Light Shrouded By Darkness
by Shadowsonic137
Summary: Look, I hate summaries. All you need to know is that Sora and Co. are back. The Heartless have returned, along with new masters. Strange happenings going on, a wierd guy named BHK and a whole lot of fighting. That's the best I can do.
1. Problems

This is my return to after about half a year of silence. As you can see, this time my interest is in Kingdom Hearts. Just because I haven't been writing doesn't mean I haven't been reading. There are some good stories floating around, and then there are the others. I don't mean to offend, but I believed that something had to be done. So here I am, writing my own brand-spanking new fan fiction. Here goes.

* * *

Sora, Donald, and Goofy slowly awoke. Morning light was shining in through the windows. Sora yawned and stretched. "H-hey. Guys." He said, yawning again. "Another exciting day." Sora almost fell back onto his bed again at these words. He almost didn't want to face another exciting day. He'd been getting up like this for two years. Two long, boring years.

He was sixteen now. Taller, and with a light tan from all the time the trio spent outdoors, constantly moving from one town to the next searching for the king's dog. He also had a new out fit. The second half of which he was pulling on right now. He tugged a red t-shirt over his head and shrugged on a vest to go on top of it.

He checked himself over. From his shoes, to his neck he was wearing almost all black. He didn't remember what inspired the change, he wasn't mourning or attempting to be gothic, but it had occurred.

Sora clipped on his necklace. "C'mon. We've gotta go find Pluto..." Donald finally gave in and grumpily hopped off his bed, but Goofy kept right on sleeping. Donald gave Goofy a seething look before clunking him on the head with his staff.

Goofy put a hand to his head and rolled over, still snoring. Donald repeated his previous action two more times before Goofy actually sat up, bleary eyed. Sora yawned again. Another exciting day.

* * *

Two hours later, after breakfast arrived via room service, the trio walked downstairs to the hotel lobby. Sora paid the manager and the left. A few steps out into the street, Sora suddenly look around. Ahead of them was a park. Trees and bushes popped up everywhere. Behind one of those trees... "Hey, do you guys see that?" He asked pointing. A truck sped by. "See what?" Was the confused reply. Sora looked up. There was nothing there.

"I coulda sworn..." Sora began.

"Aww, Shaddup. It's too early..." Donald said, cutting the boy off. Sora shrugged. It was probably nothing. The three set off due north, towards small tree-covered mountains on the horizon.

* * *

Night. The companions were just about to exit the city, when Sora's hand gave a strange twitch. The boy looked down at it, confused. _What is with me today?_ He wondered. _Seeing things, and now twitching?_ Sora gave another shrug, but he couldn't help notice the deepening darkness of the evening.

A few seconds later, it twitched again. Then he sensed the peculiar feeling he had that morning. Like something was _watching_ him. He stopped. Goofy and Donald kept going, until they finally looked back at him. "What?!" Donald asked.

"Something's not right..." Sora looked down a nearby alleyway. He was sure there was something moving in the darkness. Some of the darkness then pulled away, forming what looked like a small puddle of it. But the puddle was soon taking form, shifting into what was unmistakably a Shadow. It looked different, two antennae, thicker, more coordinated, but a Shadow nonetheless.

Sora became instantly became aware that they were surrounded. "Guys....We've got problems....!" Sora's hand twitched a final time and a great light erupted from it. When it died away, he was holding the Keyblade.

* * *

End of First Chapter. Okay! Who isn't understanding this? Everybody's hand should be raised because I, the creator, am not understanding this. But, I sure that I will be the next chapter. If not, then _we'll_ have problems.


	2. The Fallen Barrier

I realize now, that the reason I failed so miserably at Inuyasha, particularly my third story which will soon be removed, is that I wasn't forceful enough. I finally notice that at the bottom of all of ya'll(s) fan fictions, it says "REVIEW" and in the summary it says. "Please R&R!!"Now, I'm normally not the type to do this, but this time, I might. I'm still not putting it in my summary though.

* * *

The Keyblade. A weapon with untold power. Few of them exist in this realm. And Sora was holding one of them. With it came the memories. Ansem, darkness. Light. Friends. Enemies. And as the first Shadow leapt for him, Sora remembered the skills he learned on his first quest.

Sora rolled out of the way as the Heartless swiped at him with its razor-sharp claws. The power of the Keyblade was quickly reacquainting his limbs to the art of battle. Sora rolled backwards, away from the Heartless and onto his feet. Sora surged forward, bringing the Keyblade down in an overhead smash. The Shadow jumped back, evading, while another attacked Sora from his side.

Sora instinctively parried the blow and counterattacked with a quick slash. The Heartless was thrown back and into a wall, evaporating and releasing the stolen heart it was using for fuel. One down. Nine to go. Sora was vaguely aware of Goofy and Donald battling behind him, but it was not his concern. There were four Shadows left on his side that he had to worry about.

A Shadow slinked forward, trying to use a potential blind spot to its advantage. Sora however caught the motion. He turned on his heel and raised the Keyblade, energy rising within him. "Fire!" A fire ball blasted from the Key's end and hurtled toward the Shadow, reducing it to dark vapor.

But the other three were not waiting for Sora's defenses to be put back in place. His back was turned, the perfect opportunity. A Shadow leapt forward, slashing at Sora and cutting his shoulder. "Agh!" Sora could feel a slow trickle of blood oozing from the wound.

Another Heartless attacked as well, slashing his back. Sora let out another yell and slashed wildly. The two Heartless evaded. "You can't escape! Freeze!" This time the Blizzara spell was unleashed, stunning both of the Heartless. Sora followed Blizzara up with a sweeping horizontal slash, finishing them both off.

Sora turned to the last Shadow on his side, and before it could attack, Sora ran it through with the Keyblade. Sora turned around. There were still two Heartless left with Donald and Goofy, but they were soon taken care of with Goofy's tornado shield attack.

* * *

Donald and Goofy turned to face Sora. "Heartless." They all knew what it meant. "How could this have happened? They seem even stronger than before." Sora said. Since Kingdom Hearts' sealing, the Heartless attacks seemed to have had stopped. And they had. For two years. But now they were back.

Goofy looked up. "Look!" Sora and Donald looked up too. A shooting star was slowly snaking its way across the night sky. _The barrier has fallen again._ Sora knew.

"The worlds are going to start being attacked again. The stars will soon start blinking out." Sora said.

"And we can't find the Gummi Ship, either." Goofy reminded everyone.

Sora nodded. "We've got problems."

* * *

Right. So let's summarize. It has been two years since Kingdom Hearts was sealed. The Heartless disappeared. Now they are back and the Keyblade Master has no idea why. A shooting star had appeared, signaling the fall of the World Barrier. The Heartless have obviously returned. What does this all mean? Sora better find out quick.


	3. A Way Out

Notice: To all those who have seen this fic since the first two days. There had been technical difficulties that I soon hope to resolve. The original two chapters are now in their right places. That is all.

* * *

Back at the Hotel- "Okay. How much Munny have we got?" asked Sora.

"Not much. Enough to get one more night's stay here is suppose." Goofy answered.

"I think its obvious that buying a new ship is out of the question." Donald said next.

"What are we gonna do? Build one?"

"We can't." Sora said. "Cid might know how, but we don't even know where Traverse Town is..." Sora hung his head, unable to resist thinking of all the things that had gone wrong. They had lost the Gummi ship. They had no Munny. And worst of all the Heartless were back, stronger than ever. And after two years of nothing but walking, everybody's skills had tarnished. Sora barely remembered some of the lesser techniques, not to mention advanced ones like Ragnorok or Strike Raid. They'd all have to relearn them or else they were screwed.

Sora than remembered something that sent a chill down his spine. "Kairi!" He exclaimed. "She's unprotected!" _And the Heartless are probably already on their way. Kairi is after all one of the princesses of heart. Why else would the Heartless have come before? They want _her_ heart. The world's is just a bonus._

Sora punched the wall, barely even feeling his hand throb because of it. "We've got to find a way off of this world!"

Donald looked worried. "Shouldn't we find the Keyhole first?" Sora although it was the last thing he was worried about, was about to agree. But then he had an idea. A horrible idea, but it had to work.

"No." Sora said. Donald and Goofy look at him eyebrows raised. "We can't seal the Keyhole. Not this time. We have to get off this world."

"Whaddaya mean?" They asked in unison.

"You guys have never been on a world taken by the Heartless. But I have. It was the way I ended up in Traverse town to begin with. Its horrible, but we have to let this world taken by the Heartless. It's the only way."

The other two were shocked. "Sora. We just can't do that!" Goofy said.

"It's the only way! Even if we lock the Keyhole here, we'd still be stuck. Maybe if we move, we'll be able to go from there. We have to. We have to sacrifice this world to save all the others."

Goofy couldn't think of anything to say. Neither could Donald. "I'm sorry guys but I've made my decision. You guys can't use the Keyblade anyway. Without me, you're stuck. So if you're against it then stay here and get swallowed with the rest of this world!"

Sora couldn't take it anymore. He threw open the door and stormed off. He didn't want to do this, but he had to. If not for the other worlds' sake, then for hers.

* * *

A week had passed. Goofy and Donald realized that there was no swaying Sora so they had reluctantly agreed with the plan. As the week progressed, the Heartless sightings rapidly increased. Riots broke out, helping the ultimate destruction of the world. Then finally a sudden storm rolled into town.

The sun was blocked out by unnaturally thick clouds, covering the city in darkness. Sora could feel the hairs on his neck stand on end. Tonight was the night. In a grim silence the trio walked outside and was immediately greeted with mayhem. People were running around frantically, random scream carried further by the harsh winds.

Shadows began appearing in droves. A few launched themselves toward the three. Sora raised his hand, calling the Keyblade into existence. He blocked the attacks, the blade's power pushing the Heartless back. Sora raised the Keyblade above his head. "Thundara!" Bolts of lightning rained down from the blackened sky, striking and destroying the Heartless in front of Sora.

But this drew attention from other Shadows. However, before they attacked, they reduced themselves to their puddle form, and started to merge together. "Here we go." Sora whispered. The huge shadow spot on the ground rose to take form. It grew massive arms and huge legs. Two glowing spots that acted as eyes took shape and there was an enormous heart-shaped hole in the middle.

"A Darkside." The Heartless towered over the trio. And above it, a massive orb of darkness was growing, beginning to suck the entire world into it. "This is it!" Sora yelled as the roaring winds began to pick up. "We got to go now!" Goofy and Donald nodded their affirmation and began to run with Sora. Together they all leaped, and were sucked up by the winds.

They flew up through the Darkside's gut and were soon being hurtled into the black void.

* * *

Review.


	4. Of All the Princesses

So far, so good.

* * *

Destiny Islands

A girl with a deep red color of hair was sitting on a beach, allowing her feet to occasionally be washed by the ocean. She sat there, enjoying the sun and letting her mind wander. This girl's name was,

"Kairi! Hey! Do you want to come over for lunch?" The girl turned to see a blonde boy around her age coming towards her. "No thanks Tidus. I'm not really hungry right now."

Kairi could see his smile falter a bit. But it was back in place in a second. "Alright. Maybe tomorrow then?" Kairi plastered on a smile while repressing a sigh. "Maybe tomorrow."

Tidus nodded and ran back to his house. Kairi finally let out that sigh. When she had first returned from her meeting with Sora at Kingdom Hearts, she soon found that not only had the island come back, but the people as well. She had been happy about that. But of course, when the subject of Sora and Riku came up, she had launched into the entire story that she knew.

None of them believed her. They all decided a little later that Sora and Riku had just set sail on their own. For about a year, everybody was acting as normal as possible even with the loss of the two boys. Kairi found it hard to cope at first, but she still had Sora's promise.

But then, when the second year without Sora began, Tidus started showing unnatural attention to Kairi. It took her a long time before she realized that he liked her. The realization shocked her at first, but eventually it made sense. She also realized that if the whole deal with Kingdom Hearts never happened, and Sora was still here, Tidus would probably like Selphie or something like that.

But Sora _was_ gone. And Tidus obviously thought that it was the opportune time to move in. After a year of no word from Sora or Riku, he thought that it was safe to say that they weren't coming back.

She shook her head. She had absolutely no interest in Tidus at all. Poor guy. "Sora..." She whispered. Kairi got up and dusted off her shorts. _He'll be here eventually. Just wait..._ She had to tell herself that every now and then. Just to help reinforce her faith.

She looked up at the sky. A shooting star was speeding toward the horizon. She raised her eyebrow. Was this just a regular star? Or was it something else? She shook her head. The Heartless were sealed behind the Dark Door. There was no way they could be back. _Right?_

* * *

A week after the shooting star Kairi was found looking out of her bedroom window. She was star gazing as she often did. Eventually her eyes fell upon a star that was flickering much more than the others. She stared at it until suddenly it disappeared completely disappeared.

Kairi's eyes widened and she stumbled backward onto her bed. Now she had little doubt about it. The Heartless had to be back.

* * *

The next morning Kairi was slowly making her way to that small room where the cloth for the raft had been found. Wakka, Tidus, Selphie and herself had made it into a clubhouse type room. But before she could enter...

"Waaoh!" Kairi heard the yell and the crash that followed. She was about to check on who had fallen, however she noticed that she did not know that voice. She setteled for peeking around the corner.

The was somebody groaning face-down on the floor. He (Kairi guessed that it was a "he" from the voice) propped himself up on his elbows. He was wearing a long black trenchcoat that stretched all the way down to his feet.

He groaned again. "Where am I?" He crawled to his feet. He had a hood on, but Kairi guessed that he was looking out of the window that Wakka carved in the wood. "The Destiny Islands?! How'd I end up here?"

Kairi gasped. She had never seen this person before, but somehow he knew these islands. The hooded man turned at the sound Kairi had stupidly let out. Apparently he had good hearing.

"You...." He said. "You can only be Kairi. Well I guess ending up here _was_ a good thing." _Still doesn't explain how I got here though._ The man thought.

Kairi stepped fully into the doorway. "How do you know me? I'm pretty sure we've never met." Kairi said, not showing her slight fear of the stranger. However, some part of him did seem familiar. That voice....

"Can you be sure of that?" The hooded man spoke in a whisper.

"What?" Kairi asked.

"Nothing. Look Kairi, I can't really give you the answers to the questions that you will soon be asking. But you really need to come with me." Kairi thought the voice was calming, like it could make you trust the person. But she wasn't stupid.

"I'm not going anywhere with you. I don't even know who you are!" She said.

"Look. You need to come with me. Your heart needs protection. The Heartless should becoming for this world any day now."

"My- The Heartless?! So they are back? How do you know? You could be one of them!"

"It doesn't matter. I just told you! They are coming here. If your heart gets lost then we are all screwed. Come with me." The man stepped forward.

Kairi backed away. "I can't trust you! Besides what makes my heart so important?"

"You are the most important of all the Princesses! Even if not directly. If your heart gets taken and _he_ finds out, then all the worlds are bound to be devoured by the darkness. Your life means _everything._" The man stepped forward again. Kairi could now see his mouth, and a few spiky locks of blonde hair.

"No. I'm not coming with you." Kairi said again, backing away further.

"Damn you are stubborn! Can't you see I'm trying to save your life?! Can't you see I'm trying to save everybody's life?! Please. Just trust me. We have to get off of this world. Please." He held out a hand.

Kairi considered. This stranger seemed sincere. Like he could be trusted. _But he could be a Heartless._ Said one part of her. _Yeah, but if he were a Heartless then he _would _want my heart stolen. He could've attacked me at anytime. And if you go with him, you may even find...._

Kairi nodded. "Fine I'll go with you. But you'll have to give me some answers."

The hooded man smiled. "I'll do my best." Kairi bit her lip and took the offered hand. The man pulled her closed and suddenly, they were gone.

* * *

Well now, things seem to be picking up a bit. Who is this Hooded Blonde Stranger? Where did he come from? Is he a Heartless or not? Find out. Later!


	5. BHK

Recap: Sora, after finding out the Heartless have returned, found a way off of the world he was on, by jumping into the dark void. Kairi has just met with a stranger who knows more about her than she knows about him. That can't be good. Is he friend or foe? Let's go to them now...

* * *

The hooded stranger and Kairi materialized in the middle of a city. The man released Kairi and looked around. "Man, this place sure has changed." They were standing in a dark street. Stores were on either side of it, indicated by the flashing neon lights.

"Where are we?" Kairi asked. But the man was already walking away. "Hey! Wait up!" Kairi chased after him. She was hesitant to trust him, but she didn't trust this place either.

They turned a corner into an alley. There was a man holding onto a bottle in a paper bag. He was mumbling incoherently. The hooded man stooped down and checked the guy over. He shook his head. "Well this idiot here proves that we're in the right place."

Kairi looked shocked. "You _know _him?"

"Yeah. He goes by the name of Cid Highwind. And apparently...Dude! Are you drunk?!" The hood kicked Cid in the shin.

"Ow! Hey whaddaya tink you (hic) doin'?!" Cid said angrily. The hooded man shook his head laughing. "C'mon old man" He said, sling Cid's arm over his neck. "Let's get you inside. Its cold out here."

Cid and the hood hobbled back out of the alley and into Cid's shop which was around the corner. The hood dropped him in a chair. "You alright there Gramps?"

Cid looked up at the hood angry again. "Don't call me that."

"Whatever Gramps. Until you can stand up with out wobbeling and you can catch me, I'll call you what I want." There was laughter in his voice.

"What are you doing here anyway kid? Looking for somebody?" Cid asked, beginning to gather his wits again.

"Actually yeah." The laughter was gone. The hood was serious now. "His name is Sora." Kairi instantly looked up at the stranger, but behind that hood she couldn't tell anything. "You wouldn't happen to know where he is would you?"

Cid looked up at the hood as well. "What you say your name was again?"

"I didn't. But you both can call me BHK."

Cid grunted. "Well, BHK. I haven't seen that little runt for two years, if he is the same kid your talkin' about."

BHK nodded. "Yeah. I doubted you'd know where he was. But I'll find him eventually. However I can't do it without a..." BHK trailed off.

"What?" Kairi asked. "Something's wrong." BHK replied. "Wait here."

BHK walked out of the front door. Cid and Kairi followed. It had begun to rain lightly. BHK was looking around underneath his hood. There were dark spots moving all around him. He was not surprised when Shadows began to take shape.

"Holy-" Cid said. "Get back inside!" BHK yelled. Cid didn't need to be told twice. He knew what Heartless could do. But Kairi was watching BHK.

BHK whipped out twin keyblades. An Oblivion and an Oathkeeper. A blue flaming heart formed around him. "Where's Sora?" BHK asked. Apparently he was trying to talk to the Heartless. "It doesn't matter, we'll find him. You Heartless won't ruin this realm. The Door will be opened soon enough."

The Heartless seemed to make a hissing noise, but they didn't seem to be able to cross the blue heart's line. "Stalemate." BHK said. "Go back to your masters, who ever they are. Tell them that Light will always cut down the darkness."

BHK slashed with the Oblivion cutting down two Shadows. "GO!" The Heartless had no choice but to leave. Neither of them could really attack. They returned to their shadow form and disappeared.

BHK sheathed the Keyblades and made his way back to the shop. "That was dangerous." He said to Kairi. "You should have stayed inside. Didn't I just finish telling you how important you are?" BHK ushered Kairi back inside and then stood in front of Cid.

BHK unzipped his coat, revealing a white shirt and light blue, bordering white pants. "Cid. We need to find Sora before the Heartless overrun everything. We need a Gummi Ship."

Cid nodded. "How much Munny you got?"

BHK threw his hand up in the air. "Dude! I just saved your life!"

Cid flinched. "All right, all right, sheesh. I'll get you a ship. Let me check what I've got back in the Garage..." Cid disappeared into a back room.

"Do you know him?" Kairi asked.

"Know who?" BHK asked back.

"Sora."

"We've never met face to face. But I need to find him. Actually its more like he needs me, than _I_ need _him_. But if we don't meet, the Door can't be opened." BHK said.

"What door?"

"The Door to the Light."

Kairi was silent after this. This guy, BHK, could wield a Keyblade. No Heartless could do that. _So he must be telling the truth about wanting to protect me._ Kairi would deal with this train of thought later, she couldn't handle it right now. Time to change the subject. "Why do we need a ship?"

"Hmm?"

"A ship. Why do we need one? Couldn't you just teleport again?"

"If I was at full power, maybe I could teleport us again, but I'm not. And I won't be until we find Sora." BHK suddenly reached up and pulled down his hood. "God that thing gets hot..." He muttered.

Kairi sucked in her breath. "Oh my god. He looks just like you..." She whispered.

"Hmm?" Asked BHK, his blue eyes staring at her.

"Sora. He looks just like you."

"Its true, we do look similar, but I'm not him. Sorry."

Cid came back. "Alright. I got a standard ship that'll work out pretty well. It'll take two days to fix it up a little bit though. You guys can stay here until then if you want."

BHK stood an stretched. "That'll be great. Thanks Cid. Where do we sleep?"

"Upstairs, the Kupos moved out a little while back. Here, I'll get you the key...."

BHK smiled. "No need Cid." BHK extended his right hand and Oblivion reappeared. He pointed it at the trapdoor and the door burst open, the ladder sliding down. He put the blade away. "Thanks again Cid." He started climbing the ladder.

Kairi followed him up. There were four beds up there and BHK chose one in between the upstairs door and the trap one. He threw his trench coat to another bed and laid down, hands behind his head.

"Get some sleep Kairi. We may be in a hurry, but nothing we do will make two days any shorter. You'll need the energy. Don't be afraid to sleep in...." BHK stopped talking and rolled over onto his side, asleep already.

_Those spells must really take it out of him._ Kairi thought, remembering the blue heart barrier. But she found herself yawning too. _That's funny. I'm tired but back at the Islands I just woke up..._ She too laid down and went to sleep.

* * *

Review.


	6. A Step into the Unknown

Sora's eyes slowly opened. His vision was blurred and foggy, his body was numb. _What's going on? Where am I?_ Came his slow thoughts. There was a flash in his mind, spinning, darkness, towards the void....

* * *

Sora's eyes snapped fully opened and he was able to move his body with slight stiffness. He stood up and looked around. He was certainly in a new world. He finally realized something else. Donald and Goofy were not with him.

Sora felt a surge of panic. "Donald! Goofy!!" He called, stumbling around. This place was well populated, with civil looking people and large buildings. His calls echoed back to him and a few people turned to stare.

Sora felt foolish and forced himself to calm down. They could take care of themselves. Especially if they were together. Sora hoped they were.

He set off in no particular direction, hoping to find Donald and Goofy and to find information on this place. He was tempted to ask the people, but of course they'd start to wonder how he got here. He didn't really want to start messing with the world order just yet.

After about five minutes of walking, Sora managed to find the town square. There was a huge sign that read two words: TWILIGHT TOWN

_So I'm in Twilight Town huh? Wherever that is..._Sora thought looking around. Then he spotted a peculiar looking creature. It was white, with no apparent face. Scissors for hands and pointed feet. The creature seemed to sense Sora's gaze and bolted. "Hey! Wait!"

Sora chased after it. Whatever it was, it was fast. Sora struggled to keep up, following glimpses and fading shadows. Finally he lost it. "What-?" Sora began, looking around. It was no where to be seen. Sora scratched his head. _What _was_ that thing?_ He looked up. He was standing in front of a large chapel, seemingly deserted long ago. However the door was just closing, as if somebody had gone in.

"Gotcha." Sora walked up to the chapel door and stepped inside. The white creature was standing there. It made a strange noise and disappeared. Sora raised a questioning eyebrow, and surveyed the area.

There were shadows everywhere, luckily not the Heartless kind. Feeble rays of light shone in through old windows, every time Sora stepped, a ring of dust flew about his ankles. Sora ears tingled. He heard something.

Heavy foots steps echoed in the chapel. It appeared as though somebody was coming toward him. Sora's eyes strained and his body tensed, but he couldn't see anything.

The foot steps stopped. The angles of light shifted slightly illuminating a dark figure. His boots could be seen and the bottom of what appeared to be a large black coat.

A voice rang out. "Keyblade Master..."

Sora stepped back and summoned his Keyblade. "Who are you?" Sora called back. He was answered with a deep, dark laugh. The white creature stepped back into view. Sora moved away further.

"Very useful creatures they are," said the man from the shadows. "Easy to control, yet impossible to fully understand. A man once thought of these things as un-existent, however some how they manage to appear in this physical plane. The man was puzzled by these creatures and in order to give them a label for future experimentation, he thus dubbed them the Neo, or the Non-Existent Ones." The voice trailed off, leaving Sora in a state of confusion. _Neo's?_

The voice resumed. "We are much like them. However incredibly different. We are the Unknown. And we present you, Keyblade Master, with a gift to aid your quest." The light shifted again and a Gummi ship was revealed.

Sora's eyes widened. "How-" Sora was cut off. The man was laughing again.

"Do not worry Keyblade Master. You're questions will eventually be answered. But until then, I'm sure you'll need to move between worlds. This is where I will take my leave. We _will_ meet again. Our Master knows it. And he told me to tell you, that all paths lead directly to him...." The Unknown stepped back.

"Wait!" Sora called out. "Who are you?!!" The Unknown stopped. "I am..." he said slowly, "a mere shell..." He stepped into the shadows and was gone.

Sora's mind was whirling with questions, but he turned when he heard the chapel doors burst open. "Sora!" Donald and Goofy were standing in the doorway, out of breath.

Sora smiled. "Hey Guys! What took you so long? I already got us a ride." Donald and Goofy looked around the Keyblade Master and there jaws dropped when they saw the new ship.


	7. BHK's Mission

_Loooving yoooouuu, is easy 'cause you're beautiful..._My album is coming out next week, Platinum records here I come!

* * *

The Unknown that had just left Sora walked through marble halls. He walked through a door and entered a large library. The Master was already there sitting at a table, apparently reading a book. The Master Unknown was unlike the rest of them, most noticeably appearance wise.

The Master wore red as opposed to the other Unknown's black. He did not wear a hood either; his face was masked behind red bandages. He put the book down. "How did your mission fare?" he asked. His voice was smooth, but one could tell there was power behind it, confidence, and darkness.

"The boy knows of us now. Your message has been received." Spoke the Unknown.

The Master stood. "Good." The Master looked out of a nearby window, pausing. "Summon Axel. His role is about to begin."

The Unknown bowed. "He will be brought to you at once." The Unknown backed away and left. The Master Unknown began to laugh.

"Sora. You will not escape."

* * *

BHK cautiously opened his eyes. He looked across the room and bolted upright. Kairi was gone. BHK stumbled to his feet and fell right through the trap door. He fell the four feet and hit the floor below with a thud.

He head throbbed and he heard a ringing in his ear. Actually it was more like, _laughter?_ He opened his eyes again and saw Kairi laughing her head off. BHK swore. He got all worked up for nothing. But soon relief swept over him. She was safe.

"Are-you, okay?" Kairi asked when she had enough breath in her body. BHK groaned and painfully got up. "I've had worse."

"Here" Kairi said, moving to Cid's back room. "I'll make some breakfast." BHK sat down at Cid's counter, rubbing the back of his head. 10 minutes later, a mouth-watering smell wafted through. "Hey that smells good Kairi, let's just see...." Said a voice from behind the door. BHK soon heard a loud smack. "It's not ready yet Cid, and I won't have your greasy hands all over my food."

BHK heard Cid complain, and he appeared in the doorway. "Alright then fine." Cid said mumbling under his breath. Then he looked up and spotted BHK. "It's almost ready for ya kid. At this rate, you'll be off by tomorrow morning." BHK nodded. Cid was doing his job well. It was now day two, and the old man was right on schedule. "But I've still gotta warn you. If the Heartless are back, then traveling from world to world won't be any pleasure cruise."

"You've got that right, Cid." BHK whirled at the new voice. It apparently belonged to a decently tall man with dark hair and a bad scar down his face. The visitor walked towards Cid's counter. "It was pretty rough just getting down here."

Kairi appeared in the back doorway. Her eyes widened when she saw the visitors. "Leon! Yuffie!" BHK checked the second visitor over, Kairi must have been referring to this person, as Yuffie was not usually a boy's name. The woman had on khaki shorts and a green top, she also had an uncomfortably large shuriken strapped to her waist.

"Oh my god! Kairi?! What are you _doing_ here?" Yuffie asked amazed at finding Kairi already back in Traverse Town. Kairi's smile faltered slightly. "To tell you the truth, I'm not entirely sure." Kairi looked at BHK. "You'll have to ask _him_."

Yuffie and Leon both turned to see BHK sitting there, looking right back at him. Yuffie's smile grew wider. "Sora! How'd yo-" She stopped talking as she saw BHK shake his head.

"I'm not Sora. But we're here-" he said gesturing toward Kairi, "to look for him." BHK cocked his head to one side. "You wouldn't happen to know where he is, would you, Squall?"

Leon's eyes widened and BHK noticed that he grabbed the hilt of his weapon. "Who are you kid?" Leon demanded. "You can call me BHK" was all the reply Leon got.

"That's not the answer I'm looking for" Leon snarled. BHK smiled. "Well, that's the answer you've got."

Leon unsheathed his Gunblade. "Either quit playing games with us and talk, or I'll make you." Leon threatened, the blade he was holding reflected some of the store's light. The air was tense, and nobody moved.

"Put that thing away..."BHK said quietly. "You'll never be able to defeat me."

"We'll see about that!" Leon charged and slashed down with the Gunblade. There was a whirl of motion and the clash of metal on metal. When everybody's mind's caught up, BHK was seen blocking Leon's blade with the Oblivion. BHK's face was serious now.

"You don't want to do that Squall. Just back off." BHK's voice held an unmasked warning. Leon's face contorted in anger and he jumped back, only to leap and slash again.

This time, BHK called to the Oathkeeper, which had just appeared in his right hand. "Aero!" A shield of wind wrapped itself around BHK, repelling the Gunblade. "You can't beat me Squall!" Leon was shocked. He was slowly realizing that BHK was right.

BHK paused and looked around. He swore. "See what you've done?! By wasting your time fighting me, you've brought them right back." BHK strode toward the front door, it magically burst open for him as he approached.

BHK once again walked out into the dark street. The Shadows were back, and they had brought reinforcements. Soldiers, ground and air, also accompanied them. "You didn't take me seriously last time did you?" BHK asked, once again appearing to be able to communicate with them, "Well, its your funeral" He twirled the Keyblades. "Let's go"

The Heartless didn't have to be told twice. They swarmed around him, searching for the first opening to attack.

"Arcanum!" The world around Kairi, BHK and the others took on a slight red tint as the Keyblades began to glow gold. BHK attacked rapidly, his movements were a blur. All Heartless in his path were destroyed instantly. The ones that had held back were now reduced to about half of their number, however, they thought it was safe to strike after the Keys' glow slowly died away. The world returned to its normal dark color.

The Heartless pressed forward again. BHK reflexes were incredible. He ducked, dodged, and counter-attacked in many fluid motions. The Heartless were again driven back. However, this time they seemed to be waiting for something. BHK felt the presence right before hearing the enormous footstep.

A large Heartless was making its way toward him. A Guard Armor. BHK frowned. The Armor detached its arms from its main torso. The feet were firmly planted on the ground (for now) but as usual, there were no legs to be seen.

BHK rolled backward as an arm slashed at him. The other arm made a quick follow-up. BHK barely put up a block in time, still getting knocked to the ground by the force. He rolled to the left as a fist smashed down from above. He made to scramble to his feet, however an armored boot connected soundly with his back.

He was knocked to the ground again, this time in slight pain. _Gotta get up. I'm useless in this position._ BHK needed only a second to regain his footing, but he couldn't find it, the Guard Armor was unrelenting in its attack. BHK rolled to his back and took aim between his legs. "Thundara!" A bolt of lightning collided with the metal, spreading through out the entire body, even slightly affecting the detached hands. BHK did two summersaults and ended up on his feet, finally. However, by now the Armor had sorted itself out and was back on the offensive.

BHK was again trying to evade the heavy blows that rained down upon him. He decided that he had to get rid of those annoying fists first, he couldn't keep up this dance forever. He planted his feet firmly and took a batter's swing with both Keyblades at a fist that was slashing toward him.

The attack connected, sending the Armored hand crashing into a wall. It flopped to the ground, but BHK knew it would be back up soon. "Fire!" A fireball blasted from Oblivion into the wall that the hand had hit. Huge bricks fell and piled right onto the Armored fist, if not destroying it, at least it was successfully pinned.

The other hand however was still free, and it was apparently not happy with the other's imprisoning. It jabbed toward BHK quickly, before he could set up a decent defense. It slammed through his feeble block and collided with his jaw, only luck saved BHK from a broken mouth.

He staggered back, working his throbbing jaw, already a nasty bruise was forming. He felt a surge of anger at his injury and randomly slashed Oblivion at his attacker. The second hand was instantly destroyed.

This was BHK's chance for some real damage. Destroying the extremities helped, but if he wanted to break this thing, then the torso's armor had to be shattered. He ran forward, cutting with both OathKeeper and the Oblivion. Both strikes made decent hits and the Armor moved back. He kept up the assault but right when BHK was getting confident that it was almost over, something crashed into him and took a firm hold, squeezing the air out of his lungs.

The first hand had freed itself and now gripped BHK's entire body. It rose with him still captive and smashed into a wall. It did little to even dent the evil Armor, but impact and resulting vibrations shook BHK in his very bones. He was losing strength and fast. He needed to do something. Had to escape. He couldn't, _wouldn't_ fail so soon.

He struggled to free one arm, and eventually had success. The arm was preparing to ram into something again, but on its way it brought BHK extremely close to the rest of the Guard Armor. BHK took careful aim, and then hurled the Oathkeeper. It made a loud booming sound as it struck the Armor's helmet and/or head. The hand released him and he dropped to the ground.

BHK slowly stood, energy swirling around him and his remaining Key. "Go back to the Darkness. I send you again into Oblivion!" He hurled the Keyblade, and it pierced right through to the back of the Armor's head.

The Guard Armor shuddered for a second, and then collapsed, releasing its stolen Heart. The physical form of the Heartless faded away into nothing. BHK retrieved his blades and looked around. The Shadows had gone. The street was empty again. He looked up. The fight had took up all of his attention. He only now noticed that it had begun to rain.

He put Oblivion away, but he tapped his cheek with Oathkeeper first. "Heal.." He breathed. The rising bruise glowed green and the swelling immediately began to die. He put Oathkeeper away, and made his way toward the others.

Leon was looking at him with wonder, not hostility. For the second time he asked, "Who _are_ you?" A tired smile formed on BHK's face. He touched Leon's head. "I'm that. I'm Leon. I'm you." But then he pointed at Leon's heart. "But I am no longer connected to that. I'm no longer connected to Squall. Do you understand?" Leon slowly nodded his head, thinking. BHK nodded as well. "I am a mere shell. And I must return to my heart. But first, I must find Sora. I still have one thing to do while I walk this earth." BHK went inside. The others followed.

High above them, standing upon a tower's spire, was a man in a long flowing black robe. He smiled and laughed quietly. He reached up and removed his blindfold. His silver hair was rippling in the wind.

* * *

The Red Coat Unknown stood looking out of a window. He didn't turn as a Shadow took form behind him. "Report." The Heartless did not appear to say anything, but it's antennae twitched.

The Master nodded. "Dismissed" The Shadow slipped into a dark spot and slithered away. The Master still did not turn from the window. "Axel." Another Unknown suddenly stepped up behind him. "It seems that we have met some unexpected resistance. If you are to meet anybody that gives you trouble, do not hesitate to destroy them."

The Unknown nodded. "Yes my Master." The Red Coat vaguely waved his hand, still looking out of the window. "Go then. Your part has come. You will not fail me."

The Unknown bowed and left the room.

* * *

Review


	8. Take Off

To Fairy's Light: Thanks for the review, and I _pretty_ sure that BHK will have a name by the end of the story. However, probably the last few chapters will it be revealed. Also, I think that the reason no one else has reviewed so far is that they don't know that I'm here. I made the mistake of uploading the first _two_ chapters when I aired this, so the site didn't keep it in the Just In section for quite as long.

* * *

"So you are telling me, that you got a Gummi ship, from a mysterious man in a black robe?!" Donald asked. Sora &Co. were spending the rest of their munny on food. After all, its not like it only takes five minutes to get to another world.

Sora grinned. "Yep, and now we can use it to get to the next world. We can finally find Kairi, _and_ the door to the Light."

"Not to mention King Mickey and Riku." Goofy said with one of his strange laughs. Donald however was not laughing. "I'm not getting why you accepted it! It could be booby-trapped or sabotaged, or-"

"You worry too much Donald. But fine. Let's see if we can find a Garage and have them check it over." Said Sora. "But we still need to find one, and to do that, we'll the ship."

"And more Munny" Goofy stated thoughtfully. Donald still looked upset. "Sora! I think you're getting too reckless!"

Now it was Sora's turn to get angry. "Really?! Just because I need to do something?! Just because I'm trying to find Kairi? Because I'm trying to find the Door?!" People in nearby shops again stopped to stare. _Nosy brats..._Sora thought angrily.

"Yes!" said Donald "You've already destroyed one world! You don't even care about the dangers of anything anymore! I think that Key of yours must have whacked you in the head!!"

Sora didn't have anything else to say to Donald. That attack about the previous world was low. Sora had most definitely thought that there had been an unspoken rule never to talk about it again.

* * *

Sora didn't say anything else to Donald for the rest of the day. Donald acted similarly. Goofy wasn't talking just because he was too lazy to start a conversation. Eventually, they made their way back to the ship. Sora shoved the provisions into the cockpit and then climbed in himself.

Goofy sat behind him, already starting to doze off. "Move over!" Donald finally said to Sora. "I'm still the pilot of this thing."

Sora was about to complain but Donald cut him off. "If anything goes wrong, then you won't know what to do!" To this Sora could not say anything and he reluctantly climbed into the back. Donald hopped into the pilot seat and closed the hatch.

"Here we go!" Donald said. He pushed the start up button. The Gummi ship shook for a few seconds and then finally the engines started up. Donald let the ship rise for a moment and then blasted off through the roof of the chapel, straight into the night sky.

* * *

From out of the darkness of the chapel, a man stepped. It was the same hooded unknown who had given the Gummi Ship to Sora. "And they're off." He said. "Finally." Said another man, appearing at the first's side.

#1 Laughed. "You must learn patience Axel. The Universe is submerged in an endless sea of time. And one cannot often bend time to their will."

The second shook his head. "I hate waiting. I don't even know why the Master cares so much about this one child. But very soon, _I_ will get to fight this boy. And then we shall see why he is so important."

"Do not forget your other task. First, capture the girl. Then we shall move into the testing. And be sure to keep an eye out for this other intruder."

"Of course. Let's just get started already."

"Patience. You must have patience." The original Unknown melted back into the shadows. The other looked out into the sky.

"I hate waiting." He turned and left.

* * *

Yeah, I know that this one was short, but I think that story is starting to really begin now that both parties have (or will soon have) access to space and the uncharted worlds. Review.

(P.S. All that about Platinum Records...not true)


	9. Necessities

The stars lit up the night sky, flickering and dancing in the world's atmosphere. One flickered rapidly, and then suddenly seemed to be swallowed by darkness itself.

"The Heartless aren't wasting any time...." BHK sighed. "But I wonder, who's controlling them this time? Or are they acting on their own?"

"What'd you say?" Kairi asked, walking calmly to join him. BHK shook his head. "Nothing, I was just talking to myself...So! Are you all packed? Ready to go? Cid says we should be out of here by tomorrow."

Kairi nodded. It was the same night that the fight between BHK and the Heartless took place. "Yeah. I'm ready." Kairi answered. They were quiet for a while, each wondering what the future had in store for them. "Do you have any idea as to where he is? I mean where do we start looking? There are so many worlds..."

"I have no clue whatsoever." BHK said, sighing again. "But I'm sure he'll turn up. Besides, there's another quirk about traveling with you, Kairi."

Kairi raised an eyebrow, "And what may that be?"

"Your heart." BHK stated simply. Although it wasn't so simple to Kairi. "My heart?"

"Your heart. See, you and Sora are connected. Much like the world's themselves." BHK said, gesturing toward the remaining stars. "Although yours is a connection of Light. Not ties to the Dark. You are searching for him, and I'm positive that he is looking for you as we speak. It is inevitable that you will meet again, But...."

"But what?"

BHK hung his head. "I just don't know how long before we find him is all. I'm sure it won't take _too_ long, you both have very strong hearts, you being one of the Princesses, and he being a Keyblade Master, and the connection between those hearts is strong as well. But I have to warn you. It could be many weeks, months or even years before we find him again. The whole interlocked hearts thing is a cute idea, but we still have Time and Space to deal with."

Kairi nodded. "But it doesn't matter." She said. "I know we'll find him."

"That, m'dear, is a very good attitude to have. You better keep it too. Negative thoughts won't help us, not on _this_ journey." BHK trailed off, squinting at something up above him.

'_What is that?'_ He thought. There was something, or someone standing on the roof of a high tower. BHK strained to get a good look at the person but before he got locked onto the figure a voice called out from behind him.

"Hey! It's just about ready! C'mon in!" Cid yelled. BHK was broken from his trance and turned back to call to the former pilot. "Sure! We'll be there in a sec!" BHK turned back to the tower. The person was gone. BHK turned again and followed Kairi into the shop, feeling a horrible sense of foreboding.

The two re-entered the shop, looking around for Cid. He had just emerged in the back doorway, rubbing his hands with an old rag to clean of oil and grease. "Well, come on back. You'll want to see what we've got here." Cid strode back through the door and Kairi followed. Leon had been sitting by the counter, but he too got up to see the redone ship.

* * *

Cid led them to his Garage. Old and new parts to ships lay scattered all over the place. Blueprints lined the walls and an old sketchbook laid on a table. The place was a mess. BHK thought that it was the perfect area for a Garage.

In the middle, suspended by a lift, was the Gummi ship. It looked like a standard ship except that the color was redone. It was black with the usual tan color changed to a midnight blue. It was beautiful.

"Great job Cid" BHK said, having deep respect for the Gummi builder within the old man. Cid took on a happy grin and then started to give them a grand tour. He started around the back of the ship.

"You've got two standard compact engines, both connected to the Warp gummi installed into your Navi system." explained Cid. BHK whistled. "A free Warp gummi...Wow Cid, you must really like us."

Cid gave a half-hearted frown. "If you keep teasing me like that kid, you'll barely get a wing. Try flying with that!" But Cid continued moving around the ship, giving explanations and little comments about it.

"We've got you a standard turret on each wing. And below them, you've got two regular laser cannons, underneath the wings." Cid said, however there was a warning tone in his voice. "A decent pilot should be able to stay safe with those weapons, but once the more advanced Heartless ships start rolling in, jet on back here with the Warp and we'll fix you up. But don't expect many more freebies!"

BHK nodded. "Thanks Cid" he said. "Our search couldn't even begin without you...." BHK ran a hand along the ship, silent. "...I guess we'll be leaving in the morning then, after we get our last bit of rest."

"Be careful" Leon warned again. "As I told you, the Heartless are just as fierce in space as they are on the ground."

BHK grinned. "Don't worry Squall. We'll check back in every now and then just to prove we're ok. I don't want you to stay up all night wondering how we're doing...." BHK said this with a teasing tone in his voice, but Leon didn't react violently.

BHK turned to Kairi. "I'll go get some minor necessities for our trip. Stay back here with Cid and Squall. I'll be back in a flash." BHK thanked Cid one more time and left the store.

* * *

BHK returned an hour and a half later, his hands grasping many bags. Kairi looked through them and pulled out a bag of "Nacho Cheesier" Doritos. When asked if these were the "necessities" that he had mentioned, BHK said, "Can't have a road trip without snacks!" and laid down on the sofa.

Kairi made a nice pasta with shrimp and biscuits for dinner and afterwards, BHK and Kairi retired to the upstairs. Yuffie was already snoring in one of the beds and Kairi took the bed next to her. However she was surprised when BHK came over and sat next to her.

"Kairi" He said, looking at her meaningfully.

"Yes?" She asked puzzled.

"If you ever get separated from me, use these." He said pulling out three objects from behind him. "?" Was the look Kairi gave him.

"This," he said holding up a watch, "is a watch, however, with this button here, you can open and close the Gummi ship's cockpit. If you've locked it, you should be alright in there until I get back. I've got my own watch too so the other button will call me if you get into trouble of any sort. I'll get there as fast as I can. Also, only yours and mine will be able to open the ship." He handed over the watch. "Keep it with you at all times, Kairi." Kairi nodded her understanding.

BHK now turned to the remaining two items. "For the same situation, I got you these. I couldn't really picture you as a great sword fighter, and my extremely active imagination scared me when I pictured you with a whip so this'll have to do."

It turned out to be an old crossbow, and the second item was a bundle of arrows. "Now, I'm sure that you won't be the greatest shot in the world immediately, but if you point this thing at somebody's face, I'm pretty sure they'll back off." Kairi smiled slightly. "I put a bit of a spell on the arrows so they'll be a little more effective."

"What spell?"

BHK shrugged. "A simple variation of the Fire spells. If you aim right, those arrows should set a small area on fire with contact, so please don't aim at me." Kairi let out a small giggle as BHK stood up. "Good night Kairi." He strode back over to his own bed and wrapped himself in the covers. "Good night." Kairi placed the crossbow and arrows under her bed, but strapped the watch on her wrist.

She put out the light near her bed and rolled over in the darkness. "Cool" she whispered. "It even glows in the dark..." Kairi heard a faint chuckle.

* * *

The next morning was a little rushed. BHK wanted to get started soon, but to be truthful, Kairi wanted to set sail even sooner. They ate a small breakfast and put the "necessities" in the ship. BHK and Kairi both climbed in as Leon, Yuffie, and a proud Cid watched.

"Be sure to scan your fingerprints on the computer!" Cid called up. "That way no one but you will be able to use it!"

"Gotcha!" BHK called back. On the Gummi ship's dashboard was a blank screen. "This must be what Cid was talking about." BHK muttered. As if on cue, the screen flashed and words began to type themselves across it.

"Number of new Users?" It read. "Two" said BHK. The screen flashed again.

"First and Primary User: Please place hand on screen to commence scanning." BHK did as he was told and a horizontal line of light moved from the bottom of his hand to the top again. "Scan complete. Preferred interface?" It asked.

"Voice command with manual as backup." The screen remained blank for a second, but then read: "Voice patterns registered. User Name?"

"BHK"

"Login Complete."

After that: "Secondary User: Place hand on screen to commence scanning." Kairi was about to climb over the first seat to get her hand on the screen but Cid called again. "There's a screen on the back of his chair Kairi!" She sat back. So there was. She blushed at her mistake and placed her hand on the screen. The horizontal line reappeared and Kairi could feel her hand tingle.

"Scan complete." The computer screen typed, "Preferred interface?" Kairi said the same thing as BHK.  
"Voice patterns registered. User Name?"

"Kairi"

"Login complete."

BHK poked his head out of the window. "Okay Cid! We're just about ready to go!"

"Right! Light'er Up!" BHK withdrew his head and punched a red button. The Gummi ship began to levitate on its own, dropping only slightly when the lift was removed. Kairi was now the one to pop her head out. "Thanks again Cid! We'll see you soon!!" Cid nodded and flicked his nose with his thumb.

BHK rotated the ship slowly with dual joysticks. The garage door slowly opened as the ship aligned. BHK pressed another button and flipped a series of switches. The ship started to shudder as the engines fired up.

"And we go in 3...2!....1!!" The engines blasted them forward through the door. BHK slowly pulled back on the sticks and the ship's nose angled upward. They picked up speed and shot through the world's atmosphere.

* * *

Review.


	10. The Red Dragon

Announcements and response to Unknown/Anonymous reviewer of chapter 5. #1) Any and all holes in the story shall be filled and packed by the end. You must have patience. Why would you read any fiction if you knew what was going to happen? That's no fun atall. Any thing that you do not feel was covered well by the end, I will personally e-mail you and fill you in, unless whatever you said is just stupid. In which case I will tell you so. #2) This story is based on actual knowledge and many decent/acceptable theories that I have come up with and or have heard. If you want my source, by the end (again) I will tell you it.

* * *

Sora looked out of the ship cockpit. It felt like forever since he had last been in one of these. But as he watched the stars rush by, his mind eventually wandered back to the task at hand.

Sora checked his personal inventory and things were not looking good. Firstly were his key-chains. He had lost a good deal of them, including the Fairy Harp, the Crab Claw and the Pumpkin Head. He had stupidly given the Lionheart back to Leon and the Ultima Weapon chain was destroyed in the final battle with Ansem. And as Sora did a re-check he had apparently lost Oblivion and Oathkeeper as well.

_Crud... I was positive that I had had them a few days ago..._ This left Sora pretty much with the Jungle King, the 3 Wishes and the Spellbinder he received from Merlin. Unfortunately, these chains weren't very impressive. He also had the metal Chobocco, however that was too heavy to be useful in a real battle. For now, Sora would simply stay with the default Kingdom Key chain.

Sora looked out of the window again and was surprised to see that they had entered a new cluster of stars, and a new world was coming into view. They'd only been flying for a few hours, usually the length of time was much longer.

This world had snow all around it, and visible, even from space, was a huge building. It looked like an emperor's palace. "Why are there fires all around that Palace?" Sora asked.

"I dunno" said Goofy who was apparently awake. Sora shook his other companion. "Donald! Let's go down there!"

"Alright. Here we go..." Donald said, the duck moved the ship and they slipped into the new world's atmosphere.

* * *

Sora & Company walked into the middle of a battle field. Arrows were flying, soldiers were charging and metal was clashing. Sora ducked as an arrow missed him by inches. Together they took cover behind a large rock, however they already had company.

A soldier was trying to light what looked like a rocket. "Light." The soldier said forcefully. He had a strange voice. "Light. Light!!" He was clashing two rocks together probably hoping that the stray sparks were going to shoot the rocket off.

"Here" Sora said, startling the soldier who instantly whirled around. "Let me try." Sora brought out the Keyblade and tip the end of the rocket with it. In his mind Sora mentioned fire, and a several sparks fell from the tip, igniting the dragon rocket.

The soldier's eyes widened and he hastily aimed before letting the missile fire off. It flew up, sparking and launched toward the top of the snow covered mount. Its explosion caused a small avalanche which buried many of the oncoming enemies.

The soldier looked up at Sora who was crouched beside him. "Thanks" he whispered in that strange voice, like it wasn't quite his own. It sounded like he was trying to hard to be macho or something of the sort.

"Yeah! Much thanks" said a cocky voice. A red lizard appeared on the soldier's shoulder. "D'you know last time she used _me_ to light that thing?!" The soldiers eyes widened, and something was clicking into place in Sora's mind. "Mushu!" Both the soldier and the lizard instantly stopped their struggling and turned to stare at Sora.

The little dragon squinted at him hard. "Do we _know_ you?" Sora nodded his head enthusiastically, "Don't you remember? Back when-" Sora felt a fierce tugging on his vest. It was Donald.

Donald whispered to him hurriedly. "He won't remember you! He was only a lost heart back then, and all hearts were properly returned to their world when you closed Kingdom Hearts!" Sora was frozen with sudden understanding. "Oops, sorry Donald forgot..." Donald gave him a look of annoyance and incredulity.

Sora turned back to Mushu and his friend. "Sorry. But I must be thinking of somebody else." This seemed to relax them both slightly, however they still shot strange looks at him occasionally.

"So, who are you fighting?" Sora asked, trying desperately to change the subject and learn more about this place at the same time. "Sudden invaders" said the soldier "they showed up out of nowhere a couple days ago. We're trying to get back to the Emperor, but we got held up here...."

Sora looked up over the boulder, the avalanche had taken out a good deal, but there were still several black dots moving towards them, there were still people fighting on both sides.

"Do you know who these invaders are?" Sora said dropping back down behind the boulder. The soldier shook his head. "We've never seen them before. They have strange dark bodies, and have powers of demons. But we must still fight on. Whether they are demons or not."

Sora felt a strange sinking feeling in his stomach. Never before seen? Dark bodies? Demons? The Keyblade master was willing to bet that knew what these beings were after all. He soon found out for sure as a figure leaped on top of their hiding place.

Sora looked up. The figure had great wings and was a deep shade of mixed purple colors. It had a dark jagged mouth and glowing yellow eyes. "Heartless!" At this moment the gargoyle tackled into him, instead of flying and blasting from afar. Sora and the Heartless tumbled through the snow, eventually coming to a sliding stop a good way from the boulder. Sora staggered to his feet, dizzy. He didn't know if Heartless got dizzy, but he did notice that the Gargoyle's wing had been damaged so it was unable to fly.

Sora held his head with one hand and raised the Keyblade with the other. Once he stopped wobbling, he charged forward in an overhead smash, followed up with a stabbing motion and finished the combo with his usual spinning slash. The Heartless went flying and laid in the ground. But it slowly started to get up again. "Yeah well, eat this!" Another fireball blasted from the Keyblade and hit the gargoyle squarely in the chest, releasing the captive Heart and destroying the Heartless.

He saw Donald and the others struggling with other Heartless back at the boulder. He ran uphill, making slow progress due to the snow and the steepness. They would have to hold on until he got there.

* * *

Donald's staff glowed with power and he smashed a Shadow with it, releasing dark vapor and a stolen Heart. Another Gargoyle appeared and fired a dark ball toward him. Goofy stepped in front of Donald, blocking the attack with his raised shield.

Donald waved his wand in a downward motion, a tiny black ball appearing at the end of it, and a larger black ball crushing the Heartless. Donald knew that Gargoyles tended to need a good beating before finally disappearing, but the Gravity spells seemed to do an extra bit of damage, especially if the Heartless was high up.

Donald did not have the brute strength of Goofy, or the outright skill of Sora, so the only way he survived the journey was by learning what spells did what. For instance, he noticed that Shadows didn't like fire, attacks could be reflected with the proper Aero spell level, and lightning did decent damage to all except, Gargoyles, Invisibles and those hour-glasses with wings. He couldn't remember what they were called, Jiminy had returned to the Magical Kingdom.

"Mulan!" Donald turned as he heard a struggle. That soldier and the mini-dragon Mushu had been confronted by two Heartless. Donald was about to use Thunder before realizing that he'd probably hit the allies too, they were too close to the Heartless.

The Heartless were of the Soldier variety and one leapt up to strike..."No you don't!" Sora had finally reached them and hacked away with the Keyblade dispatching them without any harm done.

Sora stood up, still alert, but the Heartless were retreating. Sora knew they had to be up to something. Heartless didn't care about losing numbers in a battle, there was more than enough Darkness to draw power from. They could only have been ordered to draw back.

"Are you alright, Mulan, was it?" The soldier vigorously shook his head. "The name's Ping" Sora looked confused and was about to reply but was cut off. "And I'm fine thanks"

Ping looked up and saw her fellow warriors rallying. "I gotta go. Thanks for your help." Ping ran over to her companions, Mushu disappearing under the armor. "Gawrsh." Goofy said. "I was sure that the name was Mulan..." Donald shrugged.

Sora felt the same way as the duck. "It doesn't matter, the Heartless are after something here, probably just the world's heart, but we still gotta check it out." The ally soldiers were beginning to march off somewhere. Sora could see Ping constantly stumble and then try to catch up again.

"C'mon" Sora said. "Let's follow them"

* * *

And that's that for this chapter....However in the next chapter (two chapters? Maybe?) some holes will be filled in. Or perhaps new ones will pop up. –Shrugs- Who knows what the future holds?

(I sure don't)


	11. A Signed Document

Well, I'm just shooting out these chapters aren't I? Probably a little too fast. But oh well, I plan for it to be a long story anyway. But still, I think I'm going to start backing off soon. I'll update from now on, within a week. (Gaurenteed, Unless on Vacation, sudeen illness, death and lack of reviews)

* * *

The trio followed the warrior company until evening. It was boring, but nothing that they weren't used to. The soldiers didn't pay them much mind, that is, except for Ping. During the few times they saved time for a break, he would look over and at one point he had come over and talked.

"Why are you here? We've never seen you before these battles either. Is it just coincidence that you _happened_ to show up with those monsters?" He had eventually asked, after a few minutes of small talk.

"Yes and no" Sora had said in reply. "It isn't exactly coincidence that we are here, but we _did_ happen to show up with the Heartless. Yours was just the first world that we came across."

"First World?" He asked confused. Donald prodded Sora painfully in the side with his staff. "Nevermind" Sora said. He could tell that Ping wanted to ask more, but the others were hurrying to their feet. Sora was puzzled at the sudden movement, but then he caught a hint on the wind. Smoke. Something close was burning.

Ping joined her friends and the soldiers ran off together. Sora, Donald, and Goofy followed. The soldiers were already rushing down the other side of an enormous hill. As the Key bearer reached the top he saw a great palace, no doubt the same one he had seen from space, aflame.

A sense of panic was rolling off of the soldiers, which Sora now realized were probably reinforcements. _The Heartless did this._ Sora knew. _But why? Other than swallowing hearts, such minor physical damage has never been their thing. Who are they answering to?_

Donald and Goofy were already hurrying down the hill. Sora ran to catch up.

* * *

As they reached the Palace, they saw other Imperial soldiers fighting the Heartless. It was amazing how few Heartless were actually needed to defeat so many people. But then again the soldiers were ill equipped. They had the heart, which was probably why they did any damage at all, but their weapons were nearly useless against the Shadows and other breeds.

Ping's company immediately joined the ranks of remaining soldiers to defend their Palace. Sora stepped up to the battle front as well, crossing under a huge squared archway to get there. Sora's hand started to twitch again. _What now?_

A large, dark, hulking figure emerged from behind a wall of ash. It wasn't a Heartless. It was, "The Hun's!" Sora heard several soldiers yell. "Are they behind this?!" Sora didn't really know or care who the Hun's were but, he did find it peculiar that the Heartless weren't attacking him.

"He must be controlling the Heartless somehow!" Donald whispered fiercely. Sora silently agreed. It was the only possible explanation. The Heartless don't have personal vendettas against any select people or areas, all they wanted was the power of the World's heart.

A large pitch-black raven landed on the Hun's outstretched forearm. The Hun stepped forward. "Your cities will fall and your lands will belong to the Hun!" He said in a deep raspy voice. The Heartless gathered behind him, and none of the soldiers seemed able or willing to answer. But finally a clear voice cut the silence. "Not a Chance!" Ping stepped out of the ranks, an obvious challenge. Sora, Donald, and Goofy, stood behind Ping, as silent support.

The Hun drew a wide and heavy looking sword, which was not good because he was wielding it with one hand. The Raven cawed and took flight again, circling around its master's head.

Ping drew his own sword, which looked like a twig compared to the other one, but Ping did not back down. The Hun roared and charged Ping, who ran up to greet the invader. Their swords met with a sharp clang and Sora wondered how Ping was still standing. After all, that Hun was massive.

What followed resembled a strange dance, parries, attacks, counters and blocks were the steps, however Ping broke through the Hun's defenses and scored a deep gash in his cheek.

The wound started to drip blood, and the Hun was enraged. However the flow began to slow and the blood became dark, unnaturally so. The Hun was bleeding darkness. His body went into a series of spasms, each greater than the last, and as it did, it changed.

The skin became black. His body burst through his clothes as new muscles formed. His eyes began to glow yellow. He managed to keep his sword, but his other hand grew tremendous claws. It seemed as if he were becoming a living Heartless right before their eyes. Some freak mutant hybrid between humans and the Shadows.

The beast roared again and back handed Ping, sending the soldier sprawling, as well as knocking him instantly unconscious. _WTF?!_ Sora screamed in his mind. _What is that thing?!_ The former Hun noticed them and started in their direction. Sora raised his Keyblade into a defensive position. What ever it was, it was their problem now.

"Fire!" said Donald and Sora together. Twin fireballs hit the beast in the middle of the chest, pushing it back, but not seeming to do much else. Donald was preparing a Blizzara spell for when the mutant was in range again, but Sora was placing his faith in Thunder.

They both tried their separate spells, Donald first, then Sora, then Donald again with a follow-up Gravira. The mutant Hun dropped to one knee. But soon it was up again, slowly lurching to them. "Forget it!" Sora yelled at Donald. "Spells aren't going to work on this guy!" With that, Sora ran towards the Hun.

Sora rolled forward as he came close, effectively dodging a nasty swipe aimed at his head. He came up slashing, damaging the beast's side. But not much. In fact, it hadn't even noticed.

It caught Sora by the back of his shirt, and threw him hard. Sora smashed right into Goofy's shield. Which was fortunate. Having a large bruise on your head was better than landing in roaring flames. Goofy hauled Sora back to his feet, steadying the woozy Keyblade Master. The mutant was still coming towards them.

"Let me try one more time." Sora breathed. Goofy let him go. Sora raised the Keyblade high into the air. "Power!!" Points of light slowly entered the Keyblade and the world around Sora dimmed. His body vibrated at an awesome speed, and he knew he must use the limited time left.

Sora rushed forward, using the technique of Sonic Blade to reach the Hun in a blink of an eye. He blasted into the mutant, squarely in the chest, knocking the hun to his back. The Hun didn't attempt to get up.

Sora returned to his normal speed. No heart was revealed, but true to Heartless form, the Hun's body simply faded away. However, the world remained dark, and the people around him were not moving, as if they were frozen in time. Only Donald and Goofy seemed to be able to move.

Sora felt the hair on the back of his neck rise, and he saw an Unknown walk towards him, stopping only a few paces away. "Key Bearer"

"You again"

The Unknown gestured to the spot were the Hun had lain a few seconds before. "This is what happens when one dabbles in the forces of darkness. He tried to use Darkness to his own needs, however instead, it was devoured by it."

Sora looked at the cloaked man. "Why didn't it happen to Riku then?" He asked.

"Didn't it?" The Unknown replied. Sora raised a confused eyebrow. "The boy Riku had a strong heart. Because of this, he could wield the Darkness without much trouble. But his heart was not strong enough. Eventually, the darkness still used him to its own ends."

Sora nodded, understanding slowly. "Ansem"

"Yes. He was the embodiment of darkness at the time. But, it could have been anything else. Possibly even something worse. Just realize Key bearer, that no one is immune or impervious to the effects of the Dark. They gave the Hun the power to control the Heartless as an experiment.

"His body was strong, but his heart was truly weak. When driven by revenge, anger, and reckless actions, you become easy prey. He couldn't control the power that was granted to him, and the Shadows not only took his heart, but his body along with it, using it as a puppet, to pick up, play with, or throw away."

The Unknown turned, preparing to leave. "Why are you telling me all this? What experiment are you talking about?" Sora asked before this man could get away.

"I tell you to warn you. Your enemies are not of this realm, and they do not care about the consequences of their actions. The boy Riku, was also an experiment. Could one person actually control the Heartless, without in fact losing his own heart? The answer? For a limited time, yes if the Heart is strong. But what if it is weak? Can the same control be accomplished then? You've seen the result. Do not turn to Darkness, Key bearer. Do not lose sight of the Light."

He disappeared and the surroundings finally returned to normal. Donald tapped Sora on the back with his staff. "Was that the guy you got the ship from?"

Sora thought about it, then shook his head. They were similar, but the two had set differences, he know realized. This one had a clear voice, as opposed to the darker and deeper one. Sora also noticed that the one that had just appeared was wearing a peculiar blindfold... "This guy was definitely someone else..."

Sora noticed a strange silence had fallen over the soldiers, who were crowed around Ping. Sora and the others pushed through to the front of the crowd and looked down at the fallen warrior. Ping was just starting to stir. "What happened?" He asked cradling his head.

His voice had changed, it no longer sounded masked, but strangely feminine. And with his hair out of that tight bun, Ping looked a lot like a...girl? Donald's jaw dropped. "Kill the wench!" A voice cried out, from someone among the gathered.

"No!" Sora said. Stepping in front of Ping, who seemed to had realized what was going on. "Get out of the way, foreigner! You have no say in our laws!" There was murmured agreement to this and the crowd started to edge forward.

"Do not move!" Shouted an old voice. The people halted immediately. There was indeed an old man making his way towards them. He wore a golden crown and appeared to command high respect from the soldiers.

"None will harm this child" He said, finally stopping and standing near Sora and Ping. "But Emperor!" The original voice called. "No woman is to fight in the army! Its treason!"

"Treason?" The Emperor asked quietly. "I think not. This girl has risked her life in these recent battles for our country along with this outsiders as well. They have all done us a great service, and will be treated as thus. The girl is to be tended to and her wounds are to be addressed immediately. These others," He said gesturing to Sora & Co., "Will be treated with the utmost respect during their stay.

"You young men, have made me proud. And in honor to them, and to you, we will feast tonight, and rest well tomorrow. Our enemy has been defeated." The soldiers gave sort of a whooping battle-cry and Sora followed the Emperor into the Palace.

* * *

Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Mulan, (she had finally given up that stupid name) spent the night eating well, but saying nothing. The Emperor had welcomed them, but they all still felt uneasy about the whole thing.

But soon enough, it became time for Sora to leave. They still had many worlds left to explore, and the Door to the Light had to be found. Not to mention, Sora wanted to check up on Kairi, but he still had no idea as to where in the Universe they actually were.

However, as Sora walked out into the smoky night once more, the Emperor stopped him. "Thank you again, my son. I wish you to have this. I believe that it will mean more to you than to my kingdom." The Emperor handed him a rolled piece of paper and returned to his living quarters.

Sora shrugged and started on their way back to the Gummi ship, but as he reached that squared archway, his hand twitched and called the Keyblade. Sora automatically raised it, and the World's Keyhole appeared in what looked to be a pane of glass.

Sora pointed the blade at the Keyhole and an arrow of light shot forward to lock it. The outline of the Keyhole shimmered with light, then melted away.

* * *

Back safely in the Gummi ship, Sora finally looked at the paper. He briefly skimmed it before his eyes rested on the bottom. The paper was signed.

Ansem

* * *

Review. 


	12. Blaster Fire

_I have transcended to an existence of only the Heart. I should have come back as a Heartless, but there is no sign of such a transformation._

_My body has surely perished. However, I am different from other Heartless, keeping memories of before, and I have not taken on the form of a Heartless. It is clear that there are still many things to be studied._

_In order to cross over to the dark side, which is not this world, you must go beyond the door of Kingdom Hearts, the place connected to the world's heart. The innermost part connected to the world's heart, the place connecting to the world of darkness. (I will record the details in another report...)_

_There are still so many unknown worlds. _

_The present world. _

_The world of darkness. _

_The world of light._

_And, the world in-between._

_Where does the true paradise lie, I wonder?_

_-Ansem_

_Report Page# 12_

* * *

Sora read the report. Then he re-read it. After that he simply stared. He eventually looked up, slowly. Donald and Goofy were looking at him. But Donald shook himself and seemed to shrug the report's words away. "Okay. We didn't finish collecting the report pages. So what?" He asked, climbing into the cockpit of the gummi ship.

Sora didn't notice he was shaking his head. "I don't know Donald...I think that this means something. I mean, for two years, the Heartless had been gone. Now they are back. Somebody is giving ordinary people the power to control them, which means that they can probably control the Heartless themselves. And now the sudden appearance of a new Ansem report? It looks to be connected, somehow..."

"Maybe Sora's right Donald." Goofy said slowly. "They all started showing up together..." Donald didn't want to hear it though. He turned back to Sora. "I'll bet you 100 Munny balls that its all coincidence. Ansem has nothing to do with this. We beat him two years ago!"

"You're on!" Sora yelled back. _It can't be coincidence. It all fits. Something's going on. Who's behind the Heartless?_ Sora wondered as he climbed into his seat. The Gummi ship started to rock slowly, indicating that it was booting up its engines. Donald closed the cockpit window and soon they were once again rocketing away into the sky.

* * *

BHK slept quietly in his chair, while Kairi was scrolling down through their Gummi Ship's menu. BHK had locked the Gummi ship into a new configuration, so that it actually spoke instead of typing itself across a screen. And, of course, BHK had set the voice to some soft, woman's voice that sounded as if she was constantly trying to seduce her listener. It was getting old fast, at least for Kairi.

BHK had password-locked the voice setting, however from Kairi's screen, she could apparently change the "attitude" of it. She scrolled through millions of phrases, dragging and dropping the ones that she liked. She set the phrases into the computer core, and locked it with her own password. BHK would have a very rude awakening.

That done, she continued through the main menu. "OH! Cool!" She exclaimed. Apparently, the ship had a radio-like feature, with hundreds of songs for each category. She pulled out some headphones from the dashboard and started to listen.

Kairi managed to keep this up uninterrupted for an hour (commercial free!) But eventually the computer broke into the station she was listening to. "Calling pilot. Calling BHK..." BHK didn't move, but kept right on sleeping. "YO!!" The computer screamed. BHK snorted and bolted upright, looking around. "Whass goin' on?" He asked, drowsily. Kairi sniggered.

"Good morning. We are now approaching a plethora of oncoming objects, mostly asteroids and meteors, however there also seems to be a mass of other Gummi ships heading towards us. Are you going to get off your lazy butt, or should I take care of it?"

BHK raised an inquiring eyebrow. Kairi was covering her mouth, giggling uncontrollably now. BHK shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Switch to manual piloting, and continue scan."

"As you wish, commander." The joysticks reappeared and BHK took a firm hold on them. "Hold on big boy," The computer said instantly. "Why don't you ease up a little bit there. The controls are very sensitive. If you wish to use a bear-hug grip like that, with these settings, go ahead, but you'll end up crashing into something before you can blink."

BHK gave Kairi a, "What-the hell-have-you-done?" Kind of look. Kairi started laughing again. A small beeping sound went off. "Those other ships are closing in on this vessel. We seem to be surrounded on all sides. Ten ships."

Now Kairi stopped laughing. This was getting serious now. "Computer" BHK said. "Adjust control settings accordingly to how I use the joysticks. Bring weapon systems online."

The turrets gave a slight rotation and the ship shifted to manual. The Heartless ships were still getting closer. It was going to be a little rough. Kairi strapped in her seat-belt.

BHK relaxed his grip on the joysticks slightly and slowed the engine. "There's a large asteroid field up ahead. We can use the asteroids for cover." BHK explained to Kairi. He moved the ship forward, keeping his eyes open.

As they maneuvered closer to a large asteroid, a rocket missed their ship by inches, but blowing the rock to smithereens. BHK swore and turned the engines to max. Three Heartless ships were within view now, firing upon BHK and Kairi. BHK did his best to avoid their blasters, however the rest of the confirmed ten ships, began firing too, instantly making evasion harder.

"Targeting system online!" BHK yelled, as a laser rushed past. "Targeting online." The computer responded. BHK immediately locked on and fired. The laser hit its target and destroyed the enemy ship.

Kairi yelled out as the ship was hit in the side by enemy fire. The ship rocked back and forth, but BHK kept it together and fired the standard guns. The blasters kept the enemy at bay as the computer locked onto another potential target.

BHK fired the laser. The Heartless ship was hit and erupted in a flash of light. The Heartless were down to eight now. BHK did a barrel roll, effectively dodging a large amount of oncoming lasers.

"The turrets are beginning to overheat!" Warned the computer. "Ease up!" BHK ignored the command and aimed toward another large asteroid. After taking a few rounds, the asteroid exploded, taking down two more Heartless ships within its blast radius.

But then they were hit again. And again after that. BHK fought to regain control of the ship and shot a laser toward another Heartless ship. This laser had not been guided or locked and the ship was hit in the side, but not destroyed. In retaliation, the Heartless fired two missiles.

BHK barely dodged the first one, but the second hit the ship hard. "Aagh!" BHK grunted. "Engine #2 is out of commission. Stabilizing wings have been severely damaged. Ship armor at 30 percent and dropping!" The computer reported.

The Gummi ship was spinning out of control. And a strange feeling came over Kairi. It was as if someone was pulling on her, trying to bring her somewhere. She heard BHK swear ahead of her.

"There's a world below us! We're caught in its gravity and the remaining engine doesn't have enough power to pull through!" BHK flipped some switches and punched a button. "The command system's frozen! There's nothing I can do. Kairi! Brace yourself for a crash landing!"

BHK pulled back hard on the joysticks, but to no avail. They were already tumbling through the world's stratosphere.

* * *

This surprised me. I said I'd cut back a little on the updates, but this chapter actually took a suprisingly large amount of time to finish.**_ REVIEW!_**


	13. A Spot of Tea

Want a picture of the new Sora? I'll put it up just for you, but it'll only stay up for a little while. You snooze, you lose. Go to www. geocities .com / shadowsonic137 And now on with the show.

* * *

BHK fell to the ground from the cockpit of the Gummi ship. A second later, Kairi landed on top of him. Miraculously, they were unhurt, except for a few bruises here and there and their hearts beating ten times faster than it should, everything was fine. 

However, the Gummi ship was a different story. It was a mess. Sparks were flying everywhere, scorch marks covered half of the ship, and a wing seemed to have snapped. "Damn..." BHK muttered. He tried to climb back up to the cockpit. "Computer! Are you still operative?" He asked.

"I think so boss!" Was the reply. "But sensors show that we won't be getting back into the air for at least another 48 hours, _if_ we're lucky..." BHK looked puzzled. "We'll be able to fly again?"

"Yep. This ship comes with its own self-repair system. However with damage this extensive, I can't guarantee that we'll ever get back to even 80 percent without outside help."

"How come this system hasn't come into effect before?" BHK inquired. "The self-repair cannot operate while the ship is in use. Too much power is used in powering the blasters, engines and other small standard systems. Only when the ship is not in use can it begin the repairs." The computer explained, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Great. What is the current scan showing?" BHK asked. "The armor strength is at less than 20 percent. Engine #2 is inoperative. Stabilizing wings have been damaged. Power reserved for weapons and extra add-ons is around 40 percent." The computer reported.

BHK dropped again to the ground, being careful to miss Kairi. "We're stuck here then?" Kairi asked quietly, however she didn't seem unreasonably upset.

"Yeah..." BHK replied trailing off as he looked at their surroundings. On all sides, they were surrounded by thick foliage. Large trees reached up out of view, their branches seeming to meld together as one as sight failed with increasing attitude. Vines hung down all over the place, and plant life was abundant.

"It looks as if we've landed in the Deep Jungle." They themselves were in the middle of a small clearing, a small circle of direct sunlight light up the forest floor around them. "It could have been much worse..." BHK stated, matter-of-factly. "We could've landed in Wonderland....I hate that Queen..." Kairi allowed herself a small smile.

"Oh. Kairi?" BHK asked, bringing her attention more focused to him. "Yes?"

"If you ever listen to anything I say, listen to this. While we remain on this world, never, _ever_ piss off the monkeys." BHK told her seriously. Kairi laughed.

* * *

Kairi followed BHK through the tangled maze of vines, trees, roots, logs, and plants. BHK figured that they might as well explore. There was nothing else to do. Even collecting firewood would be useless. The wood was too moist to be of any really help. 

BHK hacked his way through the forest, searching for any sign of civilization, while Kairi let her mind wander freely. Eventually they came across huge areas of bamboo and the terrain became a little rockier. Not long after, they burst into what appeared to be a camp site. There was luggage all around the area and tents were set up.

BHK looked around and slowly stepped forward. "Hello?" He called. Almost instantly, there was a rustling of a flap and a young woman stepped out. She was fairly tall with dark brown hair. She had on a white tank top and looked as if she had been living in this jungle for a few months.

"Oh hello." She spoke in an English accent. There was an awkward silence and then she finally asked, "Would you like to come in?" BHK shrugged, and accepted the invitation. A few minutes later, they were sitting behind an old projector, sipping tea with the jungle woman.

"Its been a while since we've had any visitors. And to tell you the truth, we weren't expecting any." The woman looked over her cup at BHK. "So, how did you end up in our Jungle?"

BHK put down his cup. "It was a bit of an accident. I'm sorry if we interrupted anything." Kairi looked around the tent and doubted they had interrupted anything at all. "My name is BHK" BHK said, continuing on, "And this is Kairi. We're actually have a job to do, so it's not a horrible thing that we landed here exactly. We are looking for someone. A guy about my size, and carrying a large Key. Have you seen anybody recently?"

The woman shook her head. "There was somebody here a few years ago, with two others. He might have carried this Key that you were talking about...But I can't remember clearly. This was a while back, back before even Tarzan could speak in real sentences. Oh, and I'm Jane by the way."

Kairi sipped at her tea as BHK gave a slight nod to Jane. "Pleased to meet you" Kairi heard him mutter. Kairi didn't listen really to the rest of the conversation. It was a bit disappointing that they hadn't found Sora, but she couldn't lose hope. This was only the first world they had stopped by after all.

"Jane!!" Yelled a voice from outside the tent. Jane looked up and went to the flap, pushing it gently aside. There was a man outside, dressed in nothing but what appeared to be a loincloth. Undoubtedly, this was Tarzan. He didn't look to be in the best of times either. He was bleeding slightly in numerous areas and he was walking with a slight limp.

Jane eyes widened in surprise and she rushed toward him shouting his name. "Tarzan what happened?!"

Tarzan grunted and rested against a flagpole. "I was ambushed by a bunch of strange creatures. They look like the ones from a few years ago." Tarzan winced slightly when Jane touched his arm. "Alright. Let's get you cleaned up first." She said, looking him over.

"Allow me." BHK said striding over. Tarzan only now appeared to notice the two visitors and he asked a string of quick questions to Jane in a whisper. Jane answered back and Tarzan looked curiously at BHK as he finally reached them.

BHK drew the Oathkeeper and rapped it against the back of Tarzan's head. "Heal" BHK said firmly. Tarzan glowed green for a moment, but it quickly died away. The small cuts and bruises were gone. Tarzan also stood without the limp. He was stilling holding onto that one arm though, but he still thanked BHK.

BHK welcomed him but suddenly looked off into the distance. "Now, where were these creatures you saw?"

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Dammit People! Review!! 


	14. Behind the Waterfall

* * *

I've finally fixed the computer, however in the process, I had to erase this entire chapter. I couldn't save it anywhere, because the computer had been acting up, and it wasn't written down either. I'm just glad its over now... Here goes, let's hope this thing doesn't die on me...

* * *

Tarzan led the group to a small area surrounded by cliffs and vines. There were moss-covered boulders that laid on the forest floor. They looked as if they had been broken off of a larger rock. There was also a tall ledge embedded in the rock.

When standing on top, anybody could see the beautiful waterfall that laid beyond. There was a constant mist at the bottom, where the falling water met the rest of the river. A small rainbow hovered close to that mist.

"The creatures were mostly around here." Tarzan said. "It looked as if they were just appearing." BHK frowned at this. He had no doubt that these creatures were Heartless. But why would they appear? A Keyhole shouldn't be able to be found again after it was locked, and if everything is how it should be, the Heartless wouldn't be able to find it either.

BHK nodded, looking carefully at Kairi. "It's the only explanation..." BHK muttered under his breath. Nobody else heard him, Jane and Tarzan were talking, Kairi was staring out at the waterfall.

BHK thought. _The Heartless really _are_ after her heart. It was lucky that I found her then. But the Heartless shouldn't have appeared so quickly. I thought I had masked her heart perfectly. I must be losing power. The spell is weakening too fast. And now the Heartless know where we are. Nobody on this world will be safe until we leave. But the ship won't be ready for days...._

BHK pushed these thoughts aside for the moment. He could review them later. "Hey Tarzan!" The Jungle man looked over. "Could you take us to the waterfall's cave?" Tarzan's eyes widened. He obviously hadn't expected BHK to know about the cave. But he nodded anyway and started off.

Before long, they were all standing before an immense tree. Neon blue butterflies flapped all over the trunk. BHK stepped forward toward the tree and the butterflies fluttered around everyone. BHK took a moment to take in the scene, but then turned back to what he was doing, inspecting the tree.

There was a small engraving in the tree. It resembled an old keyhole, although there was no hole left about it. Just wood. BHK nodded smiling. "Sealed and locked." BHK said running his hand over the bark, at least on this end things were going right. Behind him Tarzan let loose a low gruff mumbling.

Jane turned to look at the Jungle man. "Heart Tarzan. Don't you remember? The word is heart."

Tarzan repeated the previous sound, but then looked back at Jane. "Heart. Yes Jane. I remember."

* * *

BHK and Kairi had decided to spend the night with Tarzan and Jane. They borrowed an extra tent to sleep in and when BHK awoke, the sun was high overhead, obviously shining full blast. But the rest of the world seemed a little too dark for sometime around high noon.

BHK shrugged on his shirt, (he usually slept topless) and cautiously poked his head outside. There were 5 Heartless wandering about, searching for something. No matter how hard the Heartless tried to blend in with the rest of the world, even after going as far as to take monkey-like forms, they still stood out easily. It must have been the blue fur.

BHK ducked back inside the tent and carefully shook Kairi awake. Drowsily, she opened her eyes. BHK did a silent thank you to the general universe. Kairi apparently wasn't the type to jump up and start screaming in fright when woken.

"There are Heartless outside. Stay quiet. Don't make yourself known. I'll go deal with them." BHK waited until Kairi nodded her understanding, and then stepped outside fully, already holding both the Oblivion and Oathkeeper. Now, BHK had a few options. The main two being to take them all out from long range with a magic attack, or to fight them up close. With his fluctuating power levels at the moment, BHK chose the latter.

Three of the Heartless immediately took notice of him and stopped their search, the other two ignored him, continuing their business. The Heartless didn't wait, a Powerwild from the group leapt toward him, scratching with its razor-sharp claws. BHK parried, and did a spinning swipe with Oblivion. The Heartless was thrown back into a pile of crates.

The other two were slowly making their way toward him. The trickiest of the two powerwilds tried a strange sliding attack, attempting to throw off BHK's guard. BHK did a small jump backward, effectively dodging the attack and countered with a heavy overhead smash with both Keyblades. The Heartless evaporated, releasing the stolen heart.

By now the searching Heartless had stopped and were now warily eyeing BHK. The third of the original offensive team rushed forward swiping with its claws. BHK's reflexes were a little off this time, the Heartless managed to score three painful cuts along BHK's leg. BHK gave a small cry of surprise and pain and, in retaliation, ran Oblivion through the blue monkey. BHK then ripped the blade out through a side of the powewild. It relinquished its heart and returned to wherever it came from.

Three left still. The first powerwild had picked itself out of the crates and joined the other two. BHK decided to try his luck with an old favorite technique. "Sonic!" BHK yelled, power collecting within his twin blades. The world dimmed further and BHK rushed toward, past, and through the three Heartless, slashing the whole time.

On his third pass, BHK suddenly returned to normal speed. The Heartless he was aiming for took his momentary confusion to rake its claws across his cheek. BHK returned by slashing through it with Oathkeeper.

All of the Heartless had been defeated, and BHK took a moment to wonder why he had dropped out of the Sonic Blade so suddenly. However, before he could pursue this train of thought any further, the horrible stinging in his cheek brought him back to reality. Frowning, BHK raised Oathkeeper above his head. "Heal" He breathed. His body glowed green for a second, and then it died down. His cuts were all healed, on his face and on his leg.

Jane hurried out of her tent. "I heard a yell. Is something wrong?" She asked looking at BHK worriedly. He shook his head. "Nothing wrong Jane." BHK did not want to get the woman all worried. "Where's Tarzan?"

Jane, looking much less worried answered, "He goes for a morning swing every day, really early in the morning. He thinks it keeps him fit." Jane sounded a little skeptical at that last part and BHK grinned.

"Well, Kairi and I are going back to our ship, to see if we can salvage anything." As if on cue, Kairi stepped out of the tent, fully dressed and ready to go. Jane looked convinced. "Do you need any help, dear?"

Again, BHK shook his head. "Nah. I don't think that there will be much to bring back anyway."

"Well if you're sure.... Just be careful. There are many dangers out in that forest. I don't even think Tarzan knows them all."

BHK smiled warmly at her. "Don't worry. We will." BHK set off back through the forest. Kairi said goodbye to Jane and followed.

After getting far enough from the camp, Kairi posed a question to BHK. "Do you think that we should talk so easily about the ship in front of Jane? After all they aren't supposed to know about other worlds if they don't know already."

BHK shrugged in response. "Its no problem really. She thinks that by ship we mean an actual boat. There's no reason to make her think otherwise. Besides, we needed an excuse to get out of there."

Kairi looked at him with her eyebrow raised. "Why's that?" BHK looked back and in all seriousness said:

"We left the Doritos."

* * *

This was a bit of a slow chapter I think, and if you think so too, my bad. But the story should pick up again real soon. Just hold on. 


	15. Rain, Mud and Darkness

I know, I know, I'm late. Sorry this has taken so long I just had a little bit of writer's block lately, due to school-related stress. But the only thing that matters is that I'm back.

* * *

The Gummi ship had recovered to 50 percent power by the BHK and Kairi had got there, but the actual hull was still pretty damaged. It would be unsafe to travel under those conditions with so many Heartless looking for Kairi, but the computer reported that they should be ready to fly by later that night. They were prepared to wait. Kairi and BHK spent most of the afternoon eating and making small conversation.

However, around 4 o'clock the sky began to darken and the winds bore the smell of rain. Within 30 minutes, it was a full downpour. "I don't like it...." BHK said frowning at the window. "Something bad is going to happen, I can feel it."

Kairi shot BHK a playful frown and crunched on her chips. "Don't be so miserable BHK. We're in the ship, you've got the Keyblades, and were going to be leaving soon. What could happen?"

But BHK was still shaking his head. Before long, he had his old trenchcoat back on with the hood propped over his head, again hiding his face. He dropped down to the ground, and called back up to Kairi, warning her to stay in the ship until he got back. Kairi watched BHK fade out of sight under the sheets of rain and wondered how long he could stand the outside.

* * *

Two hours later, Kairi was beginning to get worried. Her inner bet of 10 minutes had long since passed and with the Heartless around, something may have happened. "Maybe I should go look for him..." Kairi thought out loud, and of course the other voice in her head instantly flared up to argue. '_He said stay here'_ The obedient voice said.

'_But what if something 's gone wrong? He may need my help.'_

'_Your help? Kairi get serious. He can handle himself.'_

Kairi bit her lip, but finally agreed to wait for a little while longer. After another thirty minutes without result Kairi slowly descended from the gummi ship and unfurled her umbrella. She squinted hard through the rain and fought to remember which way he had went at first.

It turns out that she didn't have to guess. At the same instant she was about to start off, BHK returned, his hood up and his cloak flowing around him. Kairi pursed her lips and walked right up to him, annoyed with herself for worrying and get wet for no reason.

"Where have you been?" Kairi demanded. "It has been over two _hours_ you go t me all worked up for nothing." BHK was silent underneath his hood. "Well? Aren't you going to explain yourself?" She asked.

With a tone of slight annoyance BHK said, "This is the girl? What the hell do we need her for?" Kairi looked at him with her eyebrow raised. "Excuse me?"

"Do you ever shut up?" He said back with a growl. This Kairi understood. She also understood that she was in deep trouble. Her hand flew to her watch, fumbling with the buttons. "BHK! Help!" She screamed. Her plea could go no longer though as the hooded figure caught her arm and maneuvered it away from the watch. Without thinking, Kairi used the extra leverage to back hand the figure. The hood fell back to reveal tan skin and flaming red hair.

She tried to slap him again but he caught her other wrist as well and threw her to the ground. No matter who he was, he was strong. Her umbrella was lifted off of the ground and blown away by a strong gust of wind but Kairi didn't notice. Even the rain streaming down her face didn't matter at the moment, she couldn't take her eyes away from this red-haired stranger.

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice trembling. "The name's Axel. And you are coming with me." Axel stepped forward, but a blur crashed into him from within the trees. Axel fell and skidded along the muddy forest floor.

Kairi looked up to see not BHK, but Tarzan standing over her, brandishing a large spear. Axel was slipping on his way back to his feet and a portion of his face was splattered with mud. "You're going to regret that." Axel didn't even yell this, he just sounded slightly annoyed.

Tarzan didn't respond, but he crouched down and charged again, swinging his spear. Axel spun and lashed out with his boot. The kick caught Tarzan across the chin and sent him into a slight daze. Axel brought his knee up quickly, mashing into Tarzan's abdomen. Tarzan doubled over and gasped for breath. But Axel didn't let up. He brought his hands above his head and crashed them down in an overhead smash. It connected soundly with Tarzan's lower cranium and neck.

Tarzan dropped to the ground, unconscious, and Axel straightened up. He shrugged his shoulders and returned to Kairi who was still lying on the ground. Axel hauled her to her feet. "Here we go." He said in a bored tone of voice. Kairi thought frantically for help, but nobody was around. Where was her savior? Where was her knight?

The world around her started to ripple and slide out of focus. As if from a great distance away she saw somebody running toward them. His hood fell down and his blue eyes, the same as the other's, so filled with worry, with alarm. But he couldn't help her now, the world was disappearing before her eyes, fading into the dark.

She sent out a final futile call. "Help me....Sora...."

* * *

A galaxy away, Sora's heart wrenched at him. He clutched at his chest, the pain already passing, but leaving him out of breath. "What's wrong Sora?" Goofy lazily asked, falling into a doze.

Sora looked out of the ship's window at the stars that all looked alike. "Donald. Turn around."

"Why?" Donald asked, looking back at Sora.

"We're going the wrong way."


	16. Dark Plans

Here's an extra chapter just for your loyalty and my lateness. Hope you like it.

* * *

Sora could not shake the feeling of unease during the remainder of their trip. What had happened? Had he _really_ felt that hold on his heart, or had he just imagined it? 

Eventually, they began to move into a brand new cluster of stars, and a world was speeding into view. "We're back at the Coliseum!" Donald exclaimed as they drew nearer to the planet.

Sora knew somewhere in his heart that this was not the world that they were searching for, however he also felt that something was going on here as well. If anything, Hercules or Phil might know something. "Land Donald. I want to see what's up." Donald nodded and plunged down toward the Coliseum Gates.

* * *

Sora pushed open the gates and immediately noticed Hercules and Phil the goat-man talking in the middle of the field. "Hey, Herc!" Sora called out running, toward them. 

Hercules turned around and spotted Sora, greeting him with a high-five. "Long time no see kid! How'ya doing?" Hercules asked. He seemed to remember Sora just fine.

"I'm alright" Sora replied. "What's going on? What are you talking about?"

Phil was quick to answer. "Just stuff, you know, for the games...." Sora blinked. "Oh. What kind of stuff? Are the games starting up soon?"

"You know kid, you ask a lot of questions...." Phil snapped back. Sora blinked again, this time confused. But Hercules soon rested his hand on Phil's shoulder.

"Oh don't worry about this guy Sora. Its just that Phil's been under a lot of pressure to put the games in order quickly, but recently some strange guys showed up. He's just a little worried about if he should let them in or not. Remember what happened last time? What a mess that was..." Hercules explained, shaking his head.

"Don't worry kid. I've decided. The show must go on. The games will be ready in about a regular business week. Five days tops."

"Cool" Sora said. "We'll be there." Phil nodded. "See you then." Sora and company returned back to the gummi ship after waving goodbye.

"So what do you want to do Sora?" Donald asked, looking back at the Coliseum. Sora followed his gaze down, still wondering what was going on.

"Well, the games start in a week and I want to be here when they open. I can't shake the feeling that something's going to happen."

Donald frowned. "_That's _positive..."

"I'm serious!" Sora yelled back. Goofy cracked open an eye at the sudden noise. Donald shrugged. "Anyway," Sora continued, "Now that we know where we are, its about 18 hours to Traverse Town right?" Donald nodded. "Without any pit stops" he added.

"Fine" Sora said. "Let's head over there for now and see what we can do. We'll head back for the opening day." Donald fired up the engines and Goofy closed his eyes again, preparing to sleep the entire way.

* * *

Kairi slowly opened her eyes. Everything was blurred. _Where am I?_ She wondered, blinking and rubbing her eyes. Her vision cleared and she found that she was laying atop a large feather bed in a small comfortable room. But where was the room located? A hotel, a castle? Where I _was_ she 

A wooden door to her left began to creak open. A cloaked man stepped into her room and Kairi tried to back away. She succeeded, but resulted in falling off the edge of her bed, and heavily onto the wooden floor.

"The Master will see you now that you are awake, Princess. You will come with us." The man made no attempt to move toward her, he only waited patiently. Kairi wondered why he wasn't trying to stop here from running away. Then she realized. There was nowhere left to run. She had no idea of where to go or how to get there, and remembering the red-haired man, there was no point in trying to fight back. Especially if all these hooded men were of the same strength and speed.

She cautiously got to her feet shaking, but had no choice but to follow the guy's orders. She followed him out into the hallway, where two others were waiting. They escorted her through a maze of hallways and stairs, saying nothing the entire time.

Eventually they reached large wooden double doors that opened into a vast library. The cloaked men stopped outside in the hallway and closed the door behind her. She was left in the room with only books and a strange man dressed in red as her company.

The man in red turned to face her, but this didn't do much to answer Kairi's question of who he was, his face was masked in bandages. "Go on Princess. Sit down, you'll be much more comfortable." He waved his hand and a chair moved away from a table for her to sit in.

"I'd rather stand." Kairi replied, boasting more confidence than she felt. The man in red shrugged. "Suit yourself." He waved his hand again and the chair slammed back into place against the table. Kairi jumped at the noiseand a piece of paper fluttered down onto the table from a high bookshelf.

The man noticed neither of this, he had again turned around. Kairi edged toward the table, feeling as if sitting down would have been the better choice. Her feet were already starting to hurt. Her eyes fell unto the paper and she briefly skimmed it, noticing words like "Heartless" and "Barriers" and "Princesses".

Before she knew what she was doing, she pocketed the paper for later, and then attempted to pull the chair from the table. It wouldn't budge, no matter how much she pulled and twisted.

The man in red laughed out loud. "Its too late now. You should know Princess, that often you will only get one chance, and if you don't take it, that opportunity will close, maybe forever. So be sure to make your decisions carefully. It could mean an eternity of regret. Or life or death. Every choice has its own meaning, no matter how small it be."

Kairi looked back to him. "What do you want from me?" She asked. The Master chuckled again. "Results. The best way to draw something to you, after all, is live bait."

"Bait for what?" Kairi asked frightened. She couldn't help imagining some huge hideous beast coming to devour her. "The one who holds the Key." The Master answered.

"Wait, Sora?" Kairi wondered. The Master nodded. "The Keyblade master of the Present world. He will come looking for you eventually and then I shall know the answers I desire, when I destroy him."

Kairi sucked in a breath. "What has he ever done to you? Sora wouldn't hurt anybody."

"The Keyblade master fascinates me. When we finally meet in battle, I will learn the final mysteries of the Heart. But this conversation is for another day. I just wanted to meet you for now Princess. Just be a good little girl, stay out of trouble and you won't be hurt." The man in red clasped his hands behind his back.

"Axel! Bring a guide in with you." He called. Immediately the red-haired man was striding toward them, another hooded man at his side. "You called Master?" Axel asked, kneeling. The Master turned to the hooded man. "Escort the Princess back to her room, she is done here." The man stood and passed Kairi. "Follow me" He said, walking through the wooden doors.

Kairi followed, but couldn't help asking one more question as the doors closed behind them. "Who are you people?" The man was silent for a moment but then answered, "We are the Unknown" and was silent afterwards.

* * *

The Master turned back to Axel. "What would you like me to do Master? Would you like me to finish the preparations at the Coliseum?" 

"No, Axel. I've already sent the Enigmatic Man to finish up there, he is to also do any recruiting he can, though we are strong, our numbers remain small. The Keyblade master will come at us with everything he has, and he has more allies and more power then he realizes. The Enigmatic man will see if that fool god wishes to deal."

"Do you think he will Master?"

"I do, he is greedy and manipulative, the easiest type of person to understand. He will accept, I have little doubt. So, Axel I have summoned you for a different reason. It has come to my attention that there are strangers within our ranks. Order some of the others to monitor their movements, and I still want you to keep an eye out for that previous interference. I want as few unknown variables as possible, my plans have no room for them. Go forth Axel. Prepare for the upcoming battle."

"Yes Master," Axel said, bowing low. "It will be done"

* * *

Review 


	17. Foul Play

Well, how was I supposed to know that ff . net was going through changes?! I was going to update on Sunday, but lo behold! What do I find? I can't log in!! But now I finally can get this chapter up, and whatever changes going on, do not concern me anymore. For now….

* * *

Sora, Donald, and Goofy managed to reach Traverse Town without much trouble. There was a point where they had to blast a few asteroids out of the way but other than that, the ride was easy and straight forward.

When they landed however, it was nothing like Sora had remembered. There were many more buildings and bright lights. As usual, it was dark outside but clouds covered the sky, instead of one being able to look straight up into the stars.

"C'mon guys" Sora said. "Let's go find Cid." The trio wandered the streets until they came upon a large familiar sign: "Accessories" Which made sense. The world barrier had been replaced, and nobody could use gummi ships anyway. Cid had to have been forced to return to the item business.

They walked in. Cid was nowhere to be found, or anyone else for that matter. "Where is everybody?" Sora wondered aloud. "I dunno" Goofy responded. "Maybe they're at a party?"

Sora ignored him while Donald sighed and shook his head. "Well, we might as well have a look around." Sora suggested. "Let's head to Cid's garage, he may be there."

Donald agreed and they quickly made their way towards the garage, but still no luck.

"Fine" Sora said, suddenly getting angry "Whatever, looks like we'll have to do this ourselves." Donald raised an eyebrow. "Do what ourselves?"

"Fix the ship" Sora said. "It's too slow, we need to move much faster."

"But we don't even know where we're going!" Donald protested. "Why do we need to be faster to get there?!"

"Look let's just do it alright?!" Sora yelled back. "I don't know why, we just need to alright? Cid won't miss a few parts, _if_ he ever shows up…." Sora said, using his Keyblade to unlock the garage.

"You're going to steal from Cid?" Goofy asked, scratching his head. "Would you guys stop asking so many questions? Just get to work!" Goofy moved slightly, but Donald fixed a hard stare on Sora.

"What is going on with you?" Donald asked quietly. "You're not acting right Sora. In these past few weeks, you've done some pretty bad stuff. What's wrong?"

Sora scowled. "Like what stuff? I haven't done anything wrong!" Donald's eyes widened to their fullest. "Like blowing up an entire world! Or have you forgot about that?" Donald yelled. Sora crossed his arms and merely rolled his eyes. "Are you ever going to shut up about that?"

Donald threw up his short arms. "Shut up about it?! You're acting like it doesn't mean anything! Sora something's wrong with you. Something's changed, you're not yourself."

Goofy tapped his chin, thinking. "Gawsh Sora, Donald's right. Maybe we better take a break or something…."

Sora punched his fist against the garage door. "We are _not_ taking any breaks! I'm fine! We just need to move faster is all. We'll pay Cid later."

"This isn't about Cid, Sora" Donald said. "This is about you." Sora let out his breath in a fast huff. "Look if you two aren't going to help me, then I'll do it myself. Get out of the way." Sora brushed past his two companions and went to fetch the Gummi Ship.

When he returned, he opened the Garage's door and clumsily drove the ship in and parked. Sora went to work on improving the ship by himself as well. Donald and Goofy watched silently in the sidelines. Truth be told, the work wasn't all that hard. Installing the new engines didn't take much more then an hour. It was mostly like installing a new printer to a computer. The gummi's were very easy to meld together.

He slid the ship back out of the garage when he was done and re-locked the door with the Keyblade. "If you want to find me," Sora called down to Donald and Goofy, "I'll be at the hotel." Sora drove off leaving Donald and Goofy stunned behind him.

* * *

The Trio didn't talk much for the three extra days they spent in Traverse Town, but on the fourth, they began to head back to the Coliseum. No matter how bad Donald felt about it, Sora was right. With the new engines, the ride was going quite a bit faster than usual. If everything went correctly, then they would show up right on time.

One thing Sora hadn't thought about though is that with the extra speed, extra stabilizing wings should also have been added. It was now a lot harder to turn and roll and such without the extra wings. Fortunately, they didn't have any problems that called for pinpoint movements along the way.

**"WELCOME!! One and All!! To the annual Gladiatorial Games of the Olympian Coliseum!! Please present your own Hero's License at the front desk if you wish to apply." **

Sora, Goofy, and Donald maneuvered through the mass of people that had gathered for the games. Some seemed to be brandishing shiny swords or polished shields. For young heroes, this was an excellent place to prove yourself.

Sora and the others finally managed to successfully cut to the front and get into the lobby. They saw Phil handing out tickets and checking the Licenses. When he saw Sora he burst into a happy grin. "Good haul this year kid! A lot of people came, and most of them are filthy rich!"

Sora grinned. "Is it alright if we head on in then Phil?" Phil turned to a customer and dealt with a quick monetary transaction. "Sure kid. Go head and find a seat. You'll be competing this year?" Phil asked, throwing a glance over toward them. Sora nodded. "Ok. I'll sign you up. You better be prepared, there are some pretty tough customers this year."

"Thanks Phil!" Sora called before entering the main stadium. The bleachers were already half-filled, but Sora, Goofy and Donald found a good space as close as they could to the arena.

"**Boys and Girls! Damsels and Gentlemen! Amazons and Champions! Welcome again to the annual games! Match number 1 will be beginning shortly. Hand to Hand competition! Achilles vs. Tifa Lockheart!"**

Sora watched interestedly as a warrior dressed in nothing but gloves and pants entered the arena. After Achilles took up his fighting stance, a gorgeous brunette stepped up to challenge him. She had on nothing but a plain white shirt and shorts. In hand to hand, neither opponent was allowed to wear armor.

But just as the gong was about to sound, signaling the beginning of the match, a low rumbling shook the entire Coliseum. Sora looked around and watched as the grill that served as a gateway to the Underworld smash open, and a mass of Heartless flood through.

Panic instantly took hold of the spectators as the Heartless turned on them. Hercules leapt to his feet from his judge's chair and came running to help. Sora, Donald, and Goofy also got to their feet quickly. They ran down to Hercules as he was coming up, smashing down Heartless as he did.

"Herc!" Sora called as they approached. "What's going on?!" Hercules shook his head. "I don't know but I bet Hades is behind this." Hercules frowned. People were screaming bloody-mary behind him and even some of the other officials couldn't seem to handle the surge of frightened people. "Look Sora. These creatures are simply flooding in. I don't think that even I can stop them all but I've got to try and hold them back here. I hate to ask, but can you find out what's going on down below? We need to stop Hades immediately."

Sora nodded, summoning up his courage. "But how do we get in? There are too many Heartless coming in to get through!" To Sora's surprise, Hercules smiled. "That won't be a problem. I _am_ a demi-god remember? I can get you there." Hercules rolled up some imaginary sleeves and wrenched a hole open in _mid-air­­_. A swirling portal of darkness greeted them when he was done.

"This portal will lead you right outside to Hades' castle. Are you sure you can handle it?" Sora nodded. "Thanks. I wouldn't ask you if I could go myself, but I'll need to do what I can to help here. We're counting on you!"

Hercules turned around and dove back into the fray. People were running every which way, screaming their heads off. But the screams weren't wrongly placed. The Heartless were doing massive damage. "C'mon!" Sora yelled. "Let's do this!" Sora jumped headfirst into the portal, followed closely by Donald and Goofy. Within seconds, they were lost in the swirling dark.

* * *

Review! 


	18. The Underworld

IN retrospect, yes, I should have put Tifa's fight scene first. Sorry. Maybe I'll come back later and change it. I'll let you know.

* * *

The God of the Underworld slowly rose from his black throne, and walked towards the tall man before him. "So," Hades said looking down at a piece of paper he held in his hand, "what's your name…Auron?" Hades looked up, but the man made no movement or gesture at all. "Let's talk for a second here. You've been down here for the past few weeks, starting a lot of trouble for me, and most definitely for you. And now, you planned on just leaving?" Hades smiled wickedly.

"See, that's not how it works down here. The way it works, is that you listen to what I say, and you _do_ it. Its not that hard. The only rule that matters is that you listen to **_me!_**" Hades flared red at this last statement, indicating that his anger was slowly rising.

"But ya know, I'm not a _mean_ guy, I like to give people second chances…" Hades said, walking around Auron and waving his hands calmly. "Here's yours." Hades shoved the paper before Auron's face. "You sign this little thing here and come work for me for a few years…let's say maybe…200? And, upon completion, I let you go free, alive and well."

Auron stared defiantly at Hades. "My other option?" He asked in a clear voice. He showed no fear, nor did he feel any. Nevermind the fact that he was looking at one of the most dangerous Gods around….

Hades chuckled slightly. "Other option….Ha! You know that's really cute. Other option…." Hades laughed again. "Well, my old boy, your other option is to jump in the Lake of the Dead over there and spend the rest of eternity, as a moaning, whimpering, regretful soul. And you don't want that, do you? So here's a pen, one of my favorites in fact, and go on and sign that contract."

Hades held out a jet black fountain pen and the contract for Auron to sign, but he didn't accept either. "I choose my third option." Auron said, unsheathing a large sword, "I cut you into pieces, and then I leave." Auron swung the sword and cut into the back of Hades wrist, which made him drop his favorite pen. It shattered against the stone floor.

But instead of any form of blood dripping from the small wound, a jet of flame issued from it and the cut closed up. But to Hades, it was the thought that counted. The God drew himself up to his full height and his skin turned to its fiery red. Hades' "hair" blazed uncontrollably.

"Request Denied!" Hades roared, and hurled a spinning ball of flame toward Auron, threatening to engulf him. "Wind!!" Auron heard two voices shout. As the great ball of fire (ha, ha! Funny….) neared him, a miniature cyclone swept around him, shredding the ball into nothingness.

"YOU!!" Hades roared and his head of flame roared even higher. There were rivers of fire actually snaking their way up and down his arms by now. Auron turned to see a young boy running toward him, flanked by two companions, a white duck, and a tall…dog?

"Hades!" Sora yelled. "What have you done this time?!" Hades ran his hand over his scalp and returned to his normal complexion. "You know kid, I should have figured that I'd run into you again someday. You are always complicating things." Hades face was neutral, he wasn't even putting on a _fake_ smile. A chill ran down Sora's spine.

"Where are all the Heartless coming from? What are you up to?" Auron was surprised to see this little teenager talk so bluntly to the God of the Underworld. '_Who is this kid?'_

"The Heartless of course are coming from here, kid." Hades stepped closer. "See, there are some new guys on the block, and they need the Heartless. And I, of course, have a nearly endless supply of Hearts for them to use.

"I grant them a few Heartless, a few undead warriors here and there, and they use the Heartless to help me rule Olympia after their done with whatever they're doing. So it all works out in the end." Hades said, blowing out a ring of smoke.

"But it doesn't matter to you, because you won't be leaving here alive." Hades had put back on his smile. "CERBERUS!!"

Sora didn't even have time to think when he heard the call, his feet were acting on their own. Sora grabbed Auron by the wrist and bolted for the front door. They weren't being chased yet, but Sora had no intention of waiting for it.

* * *

When Sora had gotten a good football field or two away, Hades walked back to his throne and sat down. An immense silhouette of darkness appeared next to him. Hades lit a cigar. "Kill them."

* * *

Sora and the others had almost reached the portal that Hercules had created, but behind them they heard an earthshaking roar. Donald and Goofy kept running and managed to get out of the castle, but Auron and Sora stopped and looked behind them. The great beast Cerberus was bounding toward them in giant leaps. However, the dog overestimated its ground coverage and crashed through the door way behind Sora and Auron.

The entire section of wall behind them crumbled and their only immediate exit was blocked by a ton of rubble. There were positive and negative sides to this. The positive was that they didn't have to deal with Cerberus. However, the negatives easily overtook that small glimmer of happiness.

Number one: That meant that Goofy and Donald would have to deal with Cerberus alone.

Number Two: They had no way of escaping the Underworld now.

Number Three: The most important problem of all, was that Hades had just appeared in a whirlwind of fire.

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Short chapter, I know. Sorry. But review anyway. 


	19. Bad to Worse

Right, well. Something's screwed up... You know those horizontal lines? They aren't working right now.. So until its fixed, I'll just have to use bigger spaces. Sorry. Here goes:

Sora's heart rate was slowly resuming a more normal pace. He knew that he was feeling too confident right now, but he had beaten Hades before. He'd even done it alone once or twice. Auron, who was standing next to Sora, wasn't saying anything.

"Well, kid." Hades began, "Once again Cerberus has failed me. So it only goes to show, that if you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself!" Hades elevated into his super-heated form and liquid fire began to drip from his fingertips. "You've pissed me off for the last time!"

Sora dodged Hades first three flame attacks and countered with a spinning Vortex combination. Hades glided back slightly, but pointed his fingers in the classic "hand-gun" position. Hades bent his thumb and a quick blast of fire shot from his index.

Sora rolled out of the way, but Auron simply leaned to the side, and the "bullet" sped past him. Now, Auron decided to take the offensive. Auron ran forward, weaving to avoid the shots from Hades. However, when he got close enough to strike, Hades clipped him on the shoulder. Auron didn't cry out, even though his shoulder was aflame. Instead, Auron drove his blade through Hades and left it there.

Auron leapt back and finally tried to deal with the fire that was thriving on his shoulder. "Here!" Sora called to Auron. He took careful aim and produced a weak Blizzard, which managed to stop the spreading flame.

Sora came over to Auron and inspected the shoulder. It was pretty badly burned, so bad that the skin had turned black. "Doesn't it hurt?" Sora asked. Auron nodded. "Like Hell…"

Sora heard a hacking sort of sound and turned to see Hades managing to stumble toward them, the hilt of Auron's sword still visible in his torso.

"I'll finish this, now!" Sora said, planting his feet firmly. "Power!" The Keyblade charged with energy and Sora manipulated it into the Strike Raid technique. Sora hurled the Keyblade at Hades, once, twice, three times, four, and finally; "Finish!" Sora threw with all the power he had and the spinning blade hit Hades full-on, hard, before returning to its master.

Hades stumbled back, before falling face first onto the stone floor, his hair dieing down low and his skin paling. Sora sheathed the Keyblade and placed his hands on his knees, breathing hard, but otherwise okay. Auron walked over. "Nice job"

Sora smiled and stood up. "Yeah!" Said an echoing voice. "Nicely done kid!" Sora's smile dropped instantly. Hades was getting up from the floor. "That was a superb demonstration of wasting you time." He said, brushing his shoulders off. He then removed the sword from his stomach. The sword had melted slightly, and Hades tossed it aside.

Sora was speechless. "How-" Hades laughed. "Stupid little brat. You don't get it do you?! That's what you get for thinking your some kind of hero." Auron figured it out. "He rules over the Underworld, and that's where we are. We can't beat him while he's still here. At least not for long."

Hades looked at Auron longingly. "You would have made such a great servant. Good help is so hard to come by these days…." He shrugged. "Too bad, time to die." Sora readied his Keyblade; they'd have one chance to do this right.

Hades threw a large fireball, but this time as it approached, Sora lifted the Keyblade to guard. The fire connected with the Keyblade and Sora used all the strength he had to push it back. It wasn't easy. The heat was making him lose strength, fast, and the force of the blast was pushing _him_ further and further back. But with a shout, it finally rebounded and sped straight for Hades' face. By the time the smoke cleared, Sora and Auron were gone.

Sora and Auron ran through the gloomy maze that was the Underworld. They eventually came to a tall ledge and hoisted themselves up. Auron and Sora sat back and rested for a moment before the Keybearer happened to look down.

They were right above the gate leading into the Coliseum. The Heartless flow seemed to have stopped, but Sora was sure that Hades was only pausing to count the next batch to be released.

"C'mon!" Sora whispered. Together, Sora and Auron climbed down until the were facing the gate. Auron looked over at Sora. "I'll see you on the other side." Auron said, before rushing through the gateway.

But as Sora approached, the Keyblade pulsed and a Keyhole appeared in the center of the gateway. "No!!" Hades roared. He had finally caught up, and was now moving as fast as he could to get to Sora.

Sora turned and rammed the Keyblade into the Keyhole. "No!!!" Sora twisted, and the chamber was flooded by light.

When the light died down, Sora was standing in the Coliseum arena, and Auron was looking around. Donald and Goofy were also just stepping through Hercules' portal, which promptly shut behind them. Sora looked back at the gateway. It was sealed. Sora somehow knew that even Hercules wouldn't be able to open that gate for a while.

Donald and Goofy ran over to join Sora and Auron. "How'd you guys beat Cerberus?" Sora asked, turning back around to face them. Donald pushed at the air with his hand, grinning. "Aww, it was easy. At first we had a little trouble, but I finally got him in the eye with Thunder. Last time we saw him, Cerberus was yelping and crashing into stuff like a stupid little puppy. Right Goofy?" Donald asked, looking for his partner for backup.

Goofy, however, was busy looking around the arena. "Uh, guys?" Goofy called, "Does this place seem a little weird to you?" Sora looked around, and was shocked that he hadn't immediately noticed the devastation that had come over the stadium. There were giant craters that pitted the ground. The stone bleachers had been destroyed, and dozens of motionless soldiers littered the floor.

As Sora was taking this in, Hercules crashed through the wall. The demi-god bounced and landed heavily on his back. Sora and the others rushed over to him. Hercules tried to get up, but he simply fell back again. He settled for grabbing Sora's shirt.

"Sora" Hercules whispered painfully. The dude had been thrashed. Sora had never seen Hercules beat so bad. There were bruises everywhere, blood, scorch marks, cut lips, and fractured ribs. Herc had it all. "Sora, run." Hercules begged. "Please. Run. He's working…"Hercules struggled to remain conscious. "He…'s working for them….He is too…Powerful. Can't beat him…." Hercules' eyes rolled back into his head. "Who! Who?! Who's too powerful?!" Sora asked, shaking the unconscious warrior.

Donald tapped Sora's shoulder and pointed through the two holes in the walls that Hercules had made when he was thrown through. "Him" Donald said. When Sora saw what Donald was identifying, his blood ran cold.

Sora hadn't really won the last battle against him. The warrior had obviously held back, but he wasn't now. That was the reason Sora's body couldn't move. Even though he had just run into the God of the Underworld Hades, who, himself was hotter than an inferno, Sora only just now felt as if he had stepped out of the frying pan and into the fire.

He was staring at the piercing blue eyes of one of the most dangerous beings alive. Sora's mind raced. Even at full power, (which, after an exhausting battle with Hades, he certainly was not) Sora wondered:

Was he strong enough to take on the awesome power of Sephiroth?

Review!!


	20. Sora and Sephiroth

Sephiroth stood still, waiting. After all, it was only a matter of time. Sora had no where else to go, no place to run. The Keyblade master knew this as well, and with his companions behind him, Sora urged himself to confront the One-Winged Angel.

Sora's body was tense, but he was starting to feel better. He was still scared to death, but he would not allow his fear to control him. For this fight, his mind could not be against him if he wanted to survive.

As Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Auron neared Sephiroth, even more dead bodies surrounded them. Sora looked around, then back at Sephiroth. "Why? Why would you do this?"

Sephiroth's gaze was cold and uncaring. "Does it matter?" He answered. His voice was clear and light. It didn't seem to fit someone who was capable of so much destruction.

Sephiroth unhooked the Mursame. He didn't bother with sheaths, it would be impossible to draw the long sword in time. The sword itself was tribute to Sephiroth's skill. It seemed to be even taller than him, and incredibly heavy, yet Sephiroth wielded it with ease. He alone was the master of that blade.

His eyes narrowed. "Well, are you just going to stand there all day?" Sora tightened his grip on the Keyblade. It was now or never. Or, to better match the circumstances, it was Do or Die.

Sora rushed forward, issuing a long battle cry as he did. He lunged at Sephiroth, but the Soldier easily evaded. Sora turned and let loose a rapid assault of fierce swipes. None of which had any effect. Sephiroth was just too fast.

Sephiroth grinned, but there was no happy laughter in his eyes. "Fool boy. You should have just stood there. Now its time, to meet your fate. Death on the tip of my sword."

Sephiroth darted towards Sora and leapt high to avoid a horizontal swipe. He returned with a flying kick that smashed heavily into Sora's jaw. Sora stumbled back, momentarily stunned and off-balance. Sora grabbed his cheek, wincing, as the stars that he saw began to fade.

Sephiroth's knee took their place. It crashed in and upward, crushing into Sora's diaphragm. Sora dropped the Keyblade and collapsed, winded, to his two knees and a fist, the other was cradling his stomach. He tried to force gulps of air down into his lungs, trying to fight off the weakness that was spreading through his body.

Sephiroth stood over Sora, looking down onto the Keyblade master with a look of moderate distaste. "Pathetic. You've grown weak. I don't think that you even deserve to be cut by the Mursame. Perhaps, I should just crush your skull beneath my heel."

Sephiroth raised his foot and rested it on Sora's head, slowly increasing the pressure until Sora's face was millimeters from the dirt floor.

"Aarrghh!!" Sora growled angrily. Even if Sephiroth would beat him today. He wasn't going down like this, bowing with his face mashed into the ground. Sora stood, his hand outstretched. The Keyblade zoomed from the floor, back to its master. "Bring it on!!"

Sora renewed his assault on Sephiroth, closing the distance quickly first, before striking. His mind was suddenly racing, playing out every single move he was about to make.

_Overhead smash-_ Sephiroth dodged, but Sora had prepared for that. _Spin, strike! _Sora's Keyblade clashed with the Mursame, and sparks soared into the air. _Now! Break his stance-!_ Sora heaved and twisted the Keyblade, knocking the Mursame away, and leaving Sephiroth's body open for attack.

Sora knocked Sehiroth back with a good blunt slash, and when he had enough space, "Fire!!" Fira blasted away from the Keyblade and exploded into Sephiroth's chest.

Sephiroth grunted, but other than that showed no reaction except a mixed look of surprise and annoyance.

"Do you see now? Weakness is a disease that infects everyone. Because of your weakness, I made a simple mistake of letting my guard down, only for a moment. A moment that a total amateur fighter utilized to actually score a hit against me. Weakness must be stamped out and eradicated. The day of judgment will soon be at hand, and the weaklings will not survive. I will destroy them all! And become the most powerful warrior this world has ever seen!"

Sephiroth disappeared in a flash, leaving only a floating feather behind. Sora knew this trick, but his second-wind mind rush was slowing down and he did not react soon enough to evade Sephirtoh's slash.

"Aagh!" Sora felt a burning sensation across his back. But it was not fire that scorched him, it was the darkness within Sephiroth, so cold that it burned. It was infused into his sword.

Sora tried to regain his balance as quickly as possible, and then he took up a defensive stance. He noticed Goofy, Donald and that dude Auron. He refocused on Sephiroth. His friends were useless to him right now. Auron had no sword and the other two stood no chance. For now, he was on his own.

* * *

Kairi wandered aimlessly through the hallways. The Unknown were strangely lax with her. It was not how she thought being kidnapped would be like, she had imagined being tied up somewhere, in a dark room or something, but not this. '_I suppose that they just don't care. All they want is for me to be here, and since I've no place to run, _here _is all that I've got.'_ Kairi thought. But not only that, she had a sinking suspicion that they knew where she was, even now. It was like the walls themselves had eyes. 

It was late afternoon now, many hours since her conversation with the Master Unknown. And now, her fear was slowly being replaced by not only anger, but boredom as well.

Kairi rounded a corner, **Wham!**

Kairi stepped back, rubbing her forehead. "Sorry" she said out of habit, these Unknown deserved no ounce of her sorriness.

"No its alright, I probably shouldn't have been looking at my feet anyway…."

Kairi looked up, at the same time the other person did. Their eyes widened, while their jaws dropped. '_There are others here!'_ Kairi's mind screamed. Before her was another girl, her age with long brown hair. She was dressed in shorts, a light shirt and a long shawl-like thing going down one of her legs. "Who are _you?_" The girl asked in wonder.

Kairi stood there for another moment, before her brain got over the shock and allowed her to answer. "Who are you?" Kairi asked back, after stating her name. The other girl answered in a breathless sort of voice. "My name's Yuna. I've been here for about a month now, and I didn't know that there was anybody else…."

"I only got here this morning. So, you probably wouldn't have known." Kairi explained quickly. Without realizing it, they had started walking again. "Why did you come here?' Kairi asked her.

"I was brought to this place by those hooded guys. I was originally living peacefully in my little village, when these strange creatures attacked. They were destroying everything, and I wished…." Yuna trailed off, as if she were wondering whether to tell Kairi or not.

"You wished…?" Yuna looked over and made her decision. "I wished that they would all just…burn. I wished they would all just burn away. I screamed it at them, and before I knew it, this huge beast burst from the Earth itself and set fire to them. It saved the village, but the villagers thought that I was some sort of witch or something and cast me out. Two hours later, those guys showed up, and soon after, I was here." The girl sighed. "I know, it sounds weird right?" Yuna gave Kairi a half-smile, obviously worried that the red-haired girl believed that she was a witch too, or that she was crazy.

Kairi of course, thought neither. She had seen much weirder and scarier things than that. "Not at all." Kairi said, without a hint of sarcasm. Yuna's face showed instant relief. "In fact, I have a good friend who can do that sort of stuff…." Kairi's heart ached slightly at the thought of Sora, and she couldn't help wondering where he was now, or if he was looking for her. But then Sora's hair changed color, and Kairi began to wonder about BHK as well. What had happened to him? Was he out there, searching for her as she spoke?

"You do?" Yuna asked. Kairi returned to the conversation at hand and spent the next few hours talking with Yuna, they were even able to have dinner together, but eventually they had to return to their rooms with each other's promise to meet in the morning.

Kairi closed her door and turned to collapse on her bed with a good feeling inside. _Now at least I have someone to talk to._ Kairi thought as she rolled over, but something was jabbing at her leg. She sat up and reached in her pockets, raising her eyebrow when she pulled out that old parchment. Realization dawned on her. _I forgot about this!_ Kairi switched on the lamp by her bed and unfurled the paper.

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Review! (Why do I even bother saying that?!)

Oh and to No Name: Thanks for your regular reviews. At least some people are loyal….


	21. Clash! Cloud vs Sephiroth Part 1

What are we up to now...? Chapter 21? Cool. This chapter will make this story the longest, (in chapters) of any of my other stories. So, I present this to you early, in the spirit of Christmas, Kwanza, Hanakah...is that how you spell it? No seriously...I'm sorry if I just pissed anybody off by miss spelling their Holiday. Let's just say its in the spirit of Winter Break? Hell Yeah!

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Kairi walked to the dining room where she had promised to meet Yuna, but on the way there, she couldn't help but go over that document again in her mind.

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_In opening the door that stores a world's hearts, that wall around that world is broken down. We see this as a shooting star. Through this, I have been able to understand the reason why the material known as Gummi Blocks has the ability to allow travel to other worlds._

_The cause of a world's wall collapsing is the appearance of the Heartless, but finding a world's door takes time. And robbing a world of its heart is a similar case._

_If the door has been closed by the key known as the Keyblade, you probably cannot reach that world's heart again. Before the one with the Keyblade appears in this world, I must take measures to do something._

_Supposing that there is a close relationship between the Princesses and the Keyblade, it seems likely that they will resonate with each other…_

_I have chosen one special girl. I do not know if she possesses a power like that of the Princesses. But there is a chance, and this is an experiment. She may lead me to the place where the one holding the key is…_

_I shall send her off to the ocean of other worlds._

_- Ansem_

Report page 11

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'_That girl was me….' _Kairi thought._ 'I was just another one of his experiments. But what if I _hadn't _been a Princess? What if he had been _wrong?_ I would have just ended up somewhere else, maybe even still drifting in the endless space….'_

Kairi continued with her wonderings until she smacked into Yuna again, who apparently was looking for her. As they sat, rubbing their heads, Kairi forced herself to forget the report for now. She had more pressing business to attend to…like, walking straight for instance.

Yuna grinned around her forearm. "Are we going to go through this everyday?" Kairi grinned back. "Sorry. I wasn't paying attention. So today, it was _my_ fault." She gave the report one more mental shove, and started her walk with Yuna.

* * *

Sora dug his feet into the ground as he slid back. He wasn't dead yet. His right arm was on fire, with pain shooting up at every movement because he had guarded so much against the Angel's attacks. His clothes were caked with dirt, due to how many times he had fallen, and were damp with blood and sweat. Meanwhile, Sephiroth had a bruised rib and a black eye forming….and that was pretty much it. But Sora wasn't dead…_yet._

"Heh, heh, ha, ha!" Sephiroth was laughing. "Prepare yourself." Sora inwardly groaned, his heart sinking. The Keyblade was getting heavy, he had not much strength left. Surely not enough for this next wave.

The world was already dimming, and Sephiroth was rising into the air. He blasted forward, slashing with the Mursame. Sora barely avoided decapitation from the first swing, but Sephiroth kept coming. _Slash, slash, slash._ An onslaught of dark slices. The Mursame was a blur to Sora.

But finally Sephiroth scored a deep gash into Sora's left shoulder. Sora cried out, but was cut short as the flat of Sephiroth's blade connected with his chest. Sora fell to his back, and noticed the world growing even darker.

'_So, this is how it all ends….' _Sora's body was numb, and his thoughts were forming slowly. He looked over at Donald and Goofy, both unconscious. They had tried to sneak up on Sephiroth at some point…. Auron was kneeling, blood leaking from his side. He was the one who had given Sephiroth the eye trouble. _'Well, at least I put up a good fight. Maybe Sephiroth will think twice about fighting the next Keyblade Master….'_ At this, Sora's mind flashed a picture of Riku, the would-be master of the Keyblade, and then the Islands, Tidus, Wakka, Selphie. Kairi. Kairi!!

Sora ignited the last bit of strength he had left within. And brought the world back into focus. But even then, he couldn't move. He could just barely keep his eyes open. But then the thought occurred to him. '_Why aren't I dead yet…?'_ Surely Sephiroth would have killed him in all the time it took for him to reminisce.

Sora fought to raise his head, and a flowing maroon cloak whipped the side of his face. The cloak was wound around a neck. And the neck was connected to a particularly spiky, blonde head. Cloud had arrived, protecting Sora and aiming the bandaged Buster Sword right at Sephiroth's heart.

Cloud looked back at Sora and nodded, but quickly faced Sephiroth again. "Cloud…."

"Sephiroth…"

No more words were exchanged. They choose to communicate with their swords. They rushed at each other and met in the middle of the field, a thunderclap sounded deeper and more violent than any ordinary clang of metal.

They broke apart, leaping away from each other, and rushed again, their swords met, but they carried through, only a brief pass before the next meeting. They attacked in unison and another roar filled the arena. Their battle was starting to make the entire Coliseum vibrate.

They broke the lock again. "Get back Sora! Its not safe here!" As Cloud warned, Sora could sense the tension and energy building within the two combatants. Sephiroth was shooting off small tendrils of blue electricity, while Cloud had veins of yellow lightning flowing through and around, him and his sword.

They charged again, the metal clashing and roaring at each attack and receive. As Sora and Auron watched, a light barrier of ionized air formed a dome, surrounding the rivals, making it dangerous to be near them, and most likely fatal to enter that faint wall. Sora didn't even know how those two survived, but he watched them battle on, dodging, slashing, swiping, blocking.

It was vicious, yet graceful at the same time. It was like watching an Opera. In both cases the members were in peak form, masters of their art. In one, dance and song, and in the other, brutal and effective killing.

Sephiroth rose into the air, and shot down a beam of negative energy through his fist. Cloud dodged and a small wing sprouted from behind his shoulder blade. He too rose, bringing the Buster above his head, and behind his back. But then he smashed down onto Sephiroth's Mursame, electricity sparking and waging their own battle between the two.

They hovered their for a moment, then shoved off, landing softly on the ground below. But to Cloud's (and Sora's) surprise, Sephiroth rehooked the Mursame to his hip. He looked straight athis opponent and smiled. "My time here is done. But we will finish this." Sephiroth stepped back. "No! Wait!" Cloud called.

"Another day Cloud" Cloud ran toward Sephiroth, who vanished instantly, leaving behind one drifting black feather.

Cloud stopped, and slowly returned to Sora. The ionized area was quickly evaporating now that half of its energy source had gone, and Sora's hair started to lay back down again.

As Cloud approached, Sora managed to sit up, by propping up against a wall. Cloud knelt down and handed over a large vial. "Here, drink this. It should help you heal faster from Sephiroth's attack."

Sora nodded, painfully, and drank the green liquid. First, it chilled him to his very bones, but afterwards, warmth spread through his body and he began to feel again. Cloud stood and nodded. "Good. The others will be fine in a few minutes, but I've got to go after Sephiroth." Sora looked up at Cloud. "Don't worry, kid. Something tells me that we'll meet again real soon. After all, since Sephiroth has joined those other Unknowns, then you'll be on the trail as well."

With that, Cloud strode over to Auron and they exchanged a few words. Then Auron got up and left the Coliseum. Cloud followed, his cloak swirling in the wind. He turned and gave a two fingered salute at the door, and then left.

Sora waved, fell over and passed out on the floor.

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Review. 


	22. Merging Paths

Yo guys. Another chapter coming up. But ya know, it occurs to me, that the reason people may not be reviewing, is because they don't know that this story is here.

If you think about it, most other authors, at least the ones that I've seen, update in like…months or more. Whereas I update every week, every now and then I might be early, and every now and then I might be late.

So, maybe, they only check back at ff . net every few months or so. Oh well. I guess they'll just be a little surprised if they left off at chapter 7… Heh, heh, heh… Anyway, thanks to those who _do_ review. And don't worry No name, I'm going to see this thing through to the end. Here goes: Chapter 22

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_What the hell am I going to do now?_

The stars sped past the ship as it rocketed through space. But the pilot didn't notice. He was too busy asking himself that same question. Over and over again. '_What the hell am I going to do now?!'_

BHK was just arriving as Kairi was fading away. The Unknown behind her was laughing. He had succeeded in his mission, where as BHK had, so far, failed. Kairi was lost, again, and it was his fault. But not entirely. He had traveled an hour away from camp, then decided to return. But as he was nearing, he had been ambushed by dozens of Heartless.

A few minutes into the fight, and all he could hear was Kairi screaming for help, but he couldn't break through. He couldn't get free. And, when he did, Kairi was more or less gone already.

BHK slammed his fist down onto the dashboard. "HEY!!" yelled the computer, but he paid her no mind. He had to focus now, what was done is done. He had to move forward, make up a new plan of action.

This, was…complicated to say the least. For one, he had absolutely no information on these Unknown. He didn't know their motives, their identities, their powers, or even how many there were.

"What do I do? Where could she be? Hollow Bastion?" BHK stopped. "Hollow Bastion…" For some reason, BHK believed that this was the correct answer. And if it wasn't he could at least go on from there. But Hollow Bastion was at least three days worth of flying. And this was without Heartless attacks and asteroid belts.

BHK scrolled through the navigation system. _'There!'_ BHK found a wormhole that was scheduled to open in about an hour. If he could make that jump, and then take a shortcut at the exit, he might be able to arrive in a good amount of time. He silently thanked Cid as he plugged in the coordinates for the computer to follow. The old man had really outdone himself this time.

* * *

Sora slowly opened his eyes. There seemed to be a sharp intake of breath as he did, and as his eyes focused, he saw Donald, Goofy, Hercules and Phil standing over him. That breath must have been a collective sigh of relief.

"How ya feelin' kid?" Phil asked as Sora sat up. "Better" Sora answered. "How bad is the damage?" Phil winced, but Hercules took up the answer. "Its nothing that can't be repaired. A lot of the competitiors actually defended this place pretty well. Achilles was doing ok, but I think one of those Heartless bit him in the heel or something. After that he went down like a rock."

A look of slight awe came into Hercules eyes as he brought up some memory. "But you should have seen that one girl fight…By the gods it was amazing. What was her name Phil? Tifa? Man, she could kick some serious a-"

"Keep it Disney Herc." Sora interrupted grinning. The others all looked at him. Sora's smile faltered. "You know…Disney…Walt Disney…PG ratings…." Their faces were all blank. Sora smacked his forehead and looked back down at his shoes. "Nevermind" He mumbled.

"Anyway," Hercules went on, "she could fight really well."

"Well, that's great Herc," Sora said, heaving himself to his feet. "But we've got to go." Hercules placed a hand on Sora's shoulder. "Are you sure Sora? You should really stay and rest for a little while."

"Its okay." Sora answered. "I can rest in the Gummi ship. After all, we've got a long trip ahead of us." Goofy and Donald raised their eyebrows. "Oh?" Donald said. "And where would that trip end?"

"We're going to the Hollow Bastion" Sora said. Donald and Goofy's eyebrows arched further. "So far it's our best bet. What I really want to do is get to the End of Worlds. If the Heartless are back, so is that place. But we only know the route from Hollow Bastion anyway, so we _still_ need to get there. Besides, I think one of the Princesses live there nowadays. She might know something about what's going on here."

Hercules nodded. "You're probably right Sora, but be careful. Those Heartless creatures are getting stronger."

Sora nodded. "I will." He looked around at his friends, their minds were already set at the potentially dangerous task ahead. "We all will." Sora nodded once more to Hercules, and gave a two fingered salute to Phil. With that, he strode through the Coliseum Gates, and boarded the waiting Gummi Ship.

* * *

"The Keyblade Master is on his way, and the first testing shall begin shortly." The Master spoke to his three subjects. "However, some other force is making its way here as well. It seems to have an energy pattern that corresponds to that of the Key-bearer. I don't completely understand it yet, however there is no time for me to ponder the question. Before this other being arrives, I want him blown out of space. Understood?"

"Yes sir"

"Good. Remember, you are the group leaders for this experiment. I want no mistakes. Enigmatic Man, this phase is under your jurisdiction. Do not fail me."

One of the Unknowns stood. "Of course, my Master." He bowed. "My orders are clear, it will be done." He turned to leave.

"One final note of caution," The Master warned. "They are not like the Heartless, and they seem to have their own plans. You all know of what I speak. Watch them closely. You cannot trust was does not exist. You are dismissed." The two Unknown still kneeling, stood, bowed, and left the room with the first, leaving the Master alone by his window.

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Short chapter, I know. Please don't break my…._stones _(yeah, let's go with that word instead…) about it.

Oh, and P.S.: If you are reading this, and have been keeping up with this weekly, and _haven't _been reviewing, then I'd like to personally tell you, that you suck.

Peace out, much love. – Shadowsonic137


	23. More Blasters, More Fire

Yo! Waassssuuuppp??!! SOORRY for the delay, I've been out for Winter Break, miles away from home. My bad, but I'm back now and ready to resume.

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BHK sped through deep space, constantly checking his navigation system to confirm that he was headed the right way. Out in space, there aren't that many landmarks, the stars all start to look the same after a while. BHK was now positive that this computer had saved him countless times from entering into hidden black holes, or making a left at that asteroid belt. 

But by now, he was nearing his destination. He was only a few hours away from- "Warning! Enemy ships detected." BHK swore. "How many ships?"

"A total of 5 ships, 3 miles away and closing rapidly."

"Can you execute a detailed scan from this distance?"

"I sure can try, Boss." The computer screen which had originally showed the navigation, minimized that program and flashed blank. "Scan in progress…" For a few moments, the screen stayed blank.

However, eventually a Heartless ship appeared on the monitor. It was a small ship with light firepower and ammunition. "The three ships in front resemble this model. This ship is mostly used as scouting ships for reconnaissance and swift attacks."

After this report, another larger and more densely built ship appeared on-screen. "The remaining two ships are of this construction." The computer informed. "This ship is much heavier, and therefore slower, making them much easier targets than the scout ships. However, they also have dense armor built in and heavy firepower. They are more like warships, used for, well…war. Bombings, heavy assault, etc, they are able to do much damage in a very short time."

BHK rubbed his temples. "Is there anyway to avoid them?"

"Negative. The ships are now within a mile of us. There is no doubt that they've got us on radar as well. Soon we will have visual confirmation, and be in firing range. The suggested course of action: There is a decent sized asteroid field nearby. We should enter that field to have so provided cover and counter attack from there."

BHK shook his head, even though he wasn't sure if the computer could notice that. (Where would its eyes be?) "No. We've tried that once. This time, we are going to take them head on. Enter the battle formation and bring all weapons online."

BHK sat up straight and shook himself slightly. The last aerial battle was still fresh in his mind. He was not going to let _that_ happen again. The computer brought the systems online, but it had something to say. "This plan is not wise boss." BHK shrugged. "You know something? I don't really care that much anymore. Increase our speed enough so that we're rushing at them. I want to hit them hard and fast, before they can do anything in return."

BHK gripped the joysticks as the acceleration kicked in, pressing him deeply into his seat. "You're going to kill us all…." BHK pushed the ship even faster. "Did Cid put any shields on this thing?!" BHK yelled over the roar of the engine. "A partial shield, directed to the front of the craft is present."

"Great. That's all we'll need…." That last mile was rapidly closing and BHK was starting to see five little specks outside his window. "Raise the shield!" A light green barrier covered the nose of the ship instantly. "Increase to ramming speed!"

"What?! Are you crazy?!" The computer demanded. "Just do it!!" BHK yelled back. The Gummi ship rocketed forward as the thrusters gave one final burst. The ships were easily clear now, and getting rapidly closer each passing second.

"You're going to hit them!"

"That's the idea!" A few second later, BHK had the breath knocked out of his lungs as his whole body shook. He had slammed into one of the heavier ships at full ramming speed. The other ship was in bad shape, its thruster had stopped working and there was smoke issuing from all over.

Meanwhile, BHK calmly but quickly backed away from the dreadnaught with a few scratches on the paint, and a dent here and there. The shield had been totally obliterated in the crash, but not before absorbing enough damage to keep them alive.

But BHK had no time to pat himself on the back for making it out of there still breathing. He had one more dreadnaught _and_ those three scout ships to take care of, and ramming wasn't going to work twice.

BHK quickly spun the ship around and pulled upward, escaping a large volley of enemy fire. BHK blasted the jets to help make him a harder target. He did a quick flip and positioned himself for the battle.

A tense moment passed as every ship remained motionless, and then suddenly, they were moving again. The scouts were flying towards him at high speed in a mini V formation. BHK responded in kind, jetting directly to the enemy ships. As they drew nearer and nearer, the Heartless began firing their guns. BHK didn't slow as he entered a fast barrel-roll, and didn't blink as the deadly beams of light seared past his cockpit.

When the ships came within seconds before another collision, BHK shot off three lasers in quick succession. They all connected with the same target, blowing it to smithereens and allowing BHK to slip through the other two ships.

However, as the frantic beeping of the computer notified him, he was already faced with another threat. The damaged dreadnaught had launched set of homing missiles toward him during the game of chicken he had had with the scouts. BHK had little time to think, as the missiles were already gaining on him.

He sharply twisted the joysticks and made a wide U-turn to aim back at the enemy. He fired his jets and rocketed on a suicide run toward the healthy dreadnaught. BHK let out a long yell as he got closer, closer, **closer….**

BHK spiraled up and away from the ship at the last second, the enemy missiles slamming into the Heartless dreadnaught which exploded after such a heavy beating. This caused a rather interesting chain reaction; the shockwaves rocked the other dreadnaught, and in its weakened state, it also exploded, and took one of the remaining scouts that happened to be too far within the blast radius.

However it also sent BHK's ship for a spin. While BHK was disoriented, the remaining scout (who was unaffected by the numerous explosions) took advantage of the situation. It fired a string of shots directed toward, and colliding with, BHK.

The Gummi ship was rocked further and through the chaos, BHK could see the hull's integrity count diminishing. After a few more moments of spinning rocking and flipping, BHK was able to bring the ship back under control and launched a counter attack. One of his shots clipped the Heartless ship's wing and it lost control, spiraling down into the path of an oncoming comet. Both were destroyed in the collision.

BHK wiped his dripping face and took long deep breaths. "Status" The computer ran a scan of the ship and returned with the results almost immediately.

"Engines are still in working order, although the wings took a bit of damage, and the hull has suffered heavy damage." The computer reported. BHK rested his head back in his chair and tried to ignore the throbbing behind his eyes.

"Will we be able to reach the Hollow Bastion?"

"If all goes well, we should be able to reach the destination safely. However, I'm not positive that we could survive a heavy fire-fight, especially not with your kamikaze driving, if you want my opinion."

BHK smiled and hauled his head back up. "I didn't ask for it. Besides, I didn't know that computers could _make _opinions." BHK checked over the navigation one last time. "Okay know-it-all. Onward to Hollow Bastion. Full speed ahead!"

The afterburners shot the ship forward, snapping BHK's neck back against his seat and blurring the stars once again.

* * *

Burger King? Good chicken. Review! 


	24. Wrong Turn

How's the new summary? Any better? No? Yes? I'll probably end up doing another one later….God I hate summaries….

* * *

The Master Unknown sat in a very relaxed position behind a large table. His gloved hands were interlocked and resting on his stomach, and his feet were on the table, crossed. It was extremely rare to find the Master in such a state, and the Enigmatic Man did not wish to disturb him, however someone always has to be the bearer of bad news.

And, as he was the leader of Phase 1, it was his job. "Master" He said, announcing his presence. "What is it?" The Master asked without shifting his position. "We have come across a minor problem"

"Oh? And what is this problem?"

"We sent a collection of Heartless controlled ships to intercept the unknown being you warned us of."

"The Heartless have failed. Is that what you've come to tell me?"

Enigmatic Man nodded underneath his hood. "All ships were destroyed in the encounter, and the individual escaped."

"So send another, larger team of Heartless."

"Impossible, we've lost the tracking system due to a large group of explosions in the battle. We no longer know where this person is. And, before that, we had noticed a _third_ ship en route to our location. The occupants are a mystery."

The Master lowered his feet to the ground, stood up, and clasped his hands behind his back. "You disappoint me. However this problem can still be controlled. Quantum is part of your team correct?"

"Yes. He is very talented at shifting the forces of time and space to his will."

"Good. Have him slow the Keyblade Master down and allow the other two ships to arrive. We will deal with those problems at once when they arrive."

"Yes sir." Enigmatic Man turned on his heel and strode from the library immediately. Out side, he saw the Unknown Quantum waiting for him. He always seemed to know when he was needed.

'_Your instructions?'_ One always heard Quantum within their own heads.

"Slow the boy down. We've encountered a problem." Said E.

"_Where do you want me to send him?"_

"Anywhere but this world, just take care of it."

Quantum bowed slightly and moved out onto a nearby balcony. Enigmatic Man watched with mild interest as Quantum raised his arms to the sky….

* * *

Sora's eyes snapped open as a jolt went through their Gummi Ship. He looked around, but there were no asteroids or space-debris. "Did you just feel that Donald?" Sora asked, as his feathered companion was the only other person still awake.

"Don't worry about it," Donald replied. "It was probably just some drifting magnetic waves or something." Sora was still skeptical. "You sure?"

Donald huffed, he was starting to get annoyed. He got rather cranky when he was tired. "Look, the ship's readout says that everything's fine. No damage anywhere. Now quit bothering me and get back to sleep."

Admitting defeat, Sora shrugged and closed his eyes again. However, as soon as he did, there was another, even larger jolt that ran throughout the ship. "Okay, seriously. What was that?!" This time, even Donald looked confused, and Goofy's eyelids flickered.

Suddenly, space stopped moving. Sora himself looked over the layout and found that the engines were still operating at full blast, they just didn't seem to be going _anywhere_….

Between the jolts and the sudden lack of motion, Goofy finally managed to sit up in his seat. "Whassgoinon?" He asked.

"Don't ask _me_" Sora and Donald said in unison. They looked at each other, appalled, and then stared at the bright tunnel of light that had just opened up around them. Sora looked around in wonder. "Wtf?"

The ship started to shake, slightly at first, but then much more violently than either of the past two jolts. Sora's mind couldn't take it all in at once. The world was spinning out of control as the trio were hurled through the vortex.

* * *

As if from far away, Sora vaguely realized that somebody was yelling….Really loudly. As his mind cleared, Sora realized that the yelling person was himself. He instantly stopped. Goofy and Donald were re-arranging themselves shakily. They both looked rather dazed.

Sora decided to yell just one last time: "WTF?!! What the heck just happened?!" Donald shook his head. Goofy still didn't know where he was.

But, to that point, no longer did Sora. When he checked the computer's navigation, all he received was the simple message. "Error. Location unknown." Donald scratched his head. "The ship's still okay. Absolutely no damage done."

"But we don't know where we _are_!" Sora said. Donald however was shaking his head. "Yes we do. I know exactly where we are." Goofy finally seemed to place his attention in the conversation.

Sora waited…..And did some more waiting….And some more after that….Finally he broke. "Weeelllll?! Where are we then Goofy?!" Goofy smiled and stated the next sentence as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Someplace other than where we just were."

Sora's jaw dropped. Then he started laughing. A mad, sarcastic laugh that proved that he was not happy at all. "Are-you-serious!" He choked out between breaths, "Are-you-seriously-serious?!!"

Sora stopped laughing and laid back, covering his face with both hands. "You're an idiot."

Goofy's ears drooped. "I was only trying to help…" He whispered sadly. Sora sat up, laughing again. "Oh? Is _that_ what you were doing? Ha! Ha hah ha ha ha HA! That's really funny…. 'Cause it looked to me like you were just trying to really PISS ME OFF!!" Sora screamed.

"Hey!!" Donald yelled back. "Why do you gotta be so angry?! Do YOU know where we are?!" Sora was silent. "Exactly! So calm down! Look!" Donald said pointing. "There's a really bright star over there. Its probably a new world. Let's see if they know where we are."

Sora sat and crossed his arms, refusing to look at his companions. "Whatever, let's just go already."

Donald started the engines.

* * *

"_It has been done_" Quantum said. He turned to where Enigmatic Man was standing. "They won't be able to escape. I made sure of it."

Despite himself Enigmatic Man (from now on known as E.) was interested. "Where did you send them?"

E. sensed that Quantum was smiling. _"It is my most genius arrangement yet. I found an empty pocket of space in the universe and then began the process of temporarily filling it in. I used worlds from parallel universes. With their World Barrier still intact, they have no knowledge of outside worlds and therefore it was possible to move them without their knowing. _

_"The Keyblade Master will be able to pass through the worlds due to a spell I place upon his ship, however, as he is isolated from regular space, he will not be able to escape back to this realm._

_"But with a warp of this size and complexity, that pocket will eventually break down, and the worlds will return to their natural places. That area will become very unstable over a short period of time. Even I cannot be sure as to what may happen there. So be swift in solving your problems, because when the worlds return to their order, The Keyblade Master may be trapped forever."_ Quantum vanished.

E. was not surprised. Quantum always disappeared to some remote area after warping matter, probably to recharge or something of the like. Even though he did not let on, controlling portions of the Universe took enormous stores of energy.

E. did not truly care, he had other matters to attend to. The Enigmatic Man walked off to prepare for his guests.

From out of the shadows, the Blindfolded Unknown stepped. He seemed to look out into the sky and he murmured one name. "Sora." He stepped back and returned to the shadows.

* * *

"Well," Donald said. "That was fast." They were hovering above the new world; the world was barren and held a metallic look to it. "There are a lot of explosions going on down there." Donald said worriedly, "Are you sure we should descend?"

Sora shrugged his shoulders. "Might as well. We aren't learning anything up here and my legs are starting to cramp…." Sora said, rubbing his calf. "Let's check it out for a second."

"Okay." Donald said. "Fasten your seatbelts everybody, we going down."

* * *

Sora and company crunched through the gravel on the ground. Sora tripped, but managed to stay upright. He looked down to inspect what his foot had hit though. "Holy- Guys! Look at this! It isn't pieces of stone we're walking on…." Sora's eyes widened. "It's bone! We're walking on bones and skulls!!!"

Before anyone could react to this new information, a nearby explosion sent them diving for cover. Sora did a double take of the world around them. Ahead was a strange scene. Metal machines were marching toward a group of retreating humans. A war of man vs. machine. It looked like something that belonged in a cheesy movie. Maybe a series of cheesy movies.

Sora heard pieces of what someone was yelling. "Skynet!-Advancing- Run!- They-coming!-Hurry-Terminato-" Another explosion, and the man could be heard no more.

"Screw this!" Sora yelled over the explosions to Donald and Goofy. "This world sucks! Let's get back to the ship!" Donald and Goofy had no problems with that plan. They all scrambled to their feet and rushed back to their Gummi ship.

* * *

Back in space, where they could float and talk safely: "Well that was useless." Sora moaned. Donald patted Sora on the shoulder. "Don't worry" the white duck said. "Scans show a string of close worlds. We can check for a better one."

"Whatever. Let's just get away from this place." Donald turned toward the next world and revved the engines again.

* * *

BHK guided his ship through the potential death-trap of an asteroid field. During his journey, he had defeated two more minor groups of heartless ships, but avoided most of the battles by going slower and taking some of the "roads less traveled" as they say.

But now, he was a mere half hour from the Hollow Bastion. In fact, he could see the reflected light the world was giving off from its sun. And, as he approached, his feeling that Kairi was there intensified.

_Just a bit more…. Just a bit more…._ BHK crept forward. His destination was just outside of his reach….

* * *

"Okay guys!" Sora called out. "New world: Take two." Goofy looked down at the world. It was seemingly normal, it had a forest, modernized cities, and a mountainous area which they were floating above now.

"A hyuck! Maybe this world will be better." Goofy said encouragingly. Donald nodded enthusiastically. "Anything would be better than the last world." He said. "Here we go!"

As it turned out, there was a battle raging on here as well, though it was only between two beings. Beings with red fur that dominated their torsos.

Sora and the others landed not too far from them. "What are they?" Sora wondered quietly. "Monkeys? They're moving on two legs….And now they're flying!" Sora exclaimed as one of the furred men took to the sky and hovered.

Both beings seemed to be firing high-energy blasts at each other. One dodged, disappeared, then reappeared behind the other. "They're fast…." Goofy said in awe.

"You guys would fit right in here." Sora whispered. "Walking animals and all…" Donald kicked him. "Ow!" Sora said, rubbing his shin. "Why don't you go over an talk to them Donald?" Sora asked.

"No way!" Donald yelled back. "I'm not going over there! Why don't you go?!" Sora shook his head. "I'm not going…." Sora and Donald looked over at Goofy. But before they could urge him to move-

"KAKAROOOTTT!!!!" Screamed one of the flying monkeys. "Carrots? What the heck is he talking about-?" A large energy ball collided with the Earth and created a massive explosion that blew Sora, Donald and Goofy away until they finally hit a rock wall.

When the dust cleared, Sora could finally see the results. One of the monkeys was lying face-down in the middle of a brand new crater. Sora gaped at the power of these beings. And his jaw dropped even further when the being on the floor stood up, dusted himself off, and flew up to meet the other one again.

"More explosions?!" Donald screamed. "We're outta here." Sora found himself nodding. "Ye-yeah….Let's go…." Sora muttered numbly. He was starting to wonder: Were any of these new worlds safe?

* * *

Three hours and two worlds later, Sora was still wondering the same question. But before, he was willing to find out. Now, the Keyblade Master no longer cared. He just wanted to get out, to escape, he had to get back to Kairi! She needed him. He could feel it.

Donald entered the atmosphere of yet another world. (This one was criss-crossed with massive highways.)

Donald and Goofy led the way while Sora dragged far behind them, lost in his own thoughts and wishes. The trio soon came upon a strange scene. Two animals, one blue and one black, seemed to be fighting over something.

Both beings were incredibly fast, however the blue (Hamster, porcupine? Sora couldn't place them) could not catch the other. Every time the he tried, a jewel would flash in the dark one's hand and instantly, he would teleport to safety.

After one of these teleportation's, the dark one landed on a roof top, far out of harm's way. The blue started shouting: "Hey! Give back that Emerald, you lousy fake!"

The dark animal laughed. "Ha! Only in your dreams will you be able to harness the power I possess. The Emerald is useless to you! And so **_I_** will use it for whatever I wish!"

The Dark one flipped the jewel in the air and caught it. "Chaos-!" The Bluerushed at the other. "Not if I can help it!!"

The jewel erupted in a huge flash of light, and when Sora could see again, both animals were gone.

Donald sank to the ground. "Another dead-end" he said glumly. Even Goofy seemed to be wearing down. But Sora was suddenly overcome by rage.

"Damn…." He said under his breath. Donald looked up at him. "Damn it all!!!" Sora summoned his Keyblade and started slashing at the air. "Let me out! Let me out of here!!"

Sora raised both hands above his head and smashed the Keyblade to the concrete. The resulting vibrations were so fierce that Sora nearly dropped the Keyblade. Soon after, a low rumbling shook the ground.

Donald jumped to his feet and stared at Sora. "What did you _do?!_" he demanded.

"Hey! It wasn't _my_ fault!" Sora yelled back defensively. The rumbling grew into a roar and the earth shook so horribly that the group had to go to their knees to keep from falling over.

Sora looked up and stared. "We are so screwed…."

* * *

Review. 


	25. Arrival

If anyone reads the reviews, one may notice, that my pen name is in there. But, before you call me insane, (which we can debate about at a different time) I'd just like to say, that Shadowsonic is an imposter, and an absolute idiot. Somehow, this person who will remain nameless (who also isn't my father, mother, or sister, being that she does not exist…) got onto my pen name login and reviewed my chapter, when I was sitting on the sofa next to him. The point of reviewing? No idea. So there!!

* * *

BHK hopped out of the jumped out of the Gummi Ship as he approached the gates of Hollow Bastion. "Go! Do your little regeneration thing, I'll be back soon!" The Gummi Ship (operating on Auto-pilot) accepted the order and flew off.

BHK now turned to the Castle Gates. Already the Shadows were slithering up to greet him. BHK whipped out his twin Keyblades. "Let's go." BHK rushed into the mass of Heartless, twirling and slashing with his Keyblades.

The Heartless who moved too slow were destroyed, but the others were circling BHK. A Shadow launched itself toward BHK's back, but met only the steel of Oblivion. BHK now took the offensive, cutting through the Heartless. But as the Heartless reformed their ranks, BHK felt massive surges of energy occur throughout the castle grounds.

And, seemingly in response to this, the Heartless melded to form a huge spot of darkness and melted away. BHK sheathed his Keyblades and walked calmly to the castle gates. "Seems like the party's just about to get started." BHK pushed open the doors.

The castle was flooded with darkness and BHK could feel the unseen Heartless roaming the corridors. BHK allowed himself a small smile. _'So much for this being an easy rescue.'_ BHK's smile grew. "Good." He said aloud. "I like it that way." BHK stepped into the castle.

* * *

Enigmatic Man turned as Quantum appeared beside him. _'A most interesting turn of events.'_ "What do you want Quantum?"

_'I've come to inform you.'_

"About?"

"_The Keyblade Master has arrived."_

E. was shocked. "What? How? You told me that he wouldn't be able to escape." Quantum laughed. _'I knew not the extent of the boy's power. His desire to return to the Princess was immense. The Keyblade acted upon this wish."_

"How does the Keyblade have enough power to escape from an entire separate universe?" E. questioned.

_'The Keyblade is a tool that is connected to the Heart. An individual's Heart, or a World's Heart. Even the Hearts of galaxies. For is a universe not simply a collection of worlds? The worlds were taken from their true space and placed elsewhere, a random collection, with a random place. Thus, a false miniature universe was created, along with a false Heart.'_

"Spare me the lecture Quantum, I just want to know what _happened_."

_'I do not know why I didn't realize that this would happen.' _Quantum continued, as if E. had not spoken. '_The Keyblade reacts to Hearts. When the boy wished for his return to this universe, the Keyblade also sought for a way here. When the Keyblade came across the Universe's unstable Heart, the Universe was forced to collapse. During this, so much power was released that all the Keyblade had to do was draw some power to itself, and use it to transport here.'_

"You speak as if the Keyblade has a mind of its own." E. wondered aloud.

'_Don't be foolish. The Keyblade is so complex, yet wondrously simple. It wants what its wielder wants. Nothing more, nothing less. It can't choose right or wrong.'_

"So be it" E. said. "We have one more issue to deal with. I no longer care." E. shrugged. "We will greet the boy as planned. As for the others, increase the Heartless patrol. They will see to it that nobody will interfere."

E. strode off, to try and salvage what was left of Phase 1.

* * *

Sora slowly picked himself off of the marble floor he found himself on. Donald and Goofy were next to him, imitating the motion. Sora looked around, but found that he couldn't see very well. The pounding headache he had and the swirling lights around him didn't help much. Sora shut his eyes and thought back to a few moments before.

* * *

_The street was shaking, the entire world was. Sora dropped down to his knees and looked up to the sky. "We are so screwed…." The sky itself seemed to be tearing apart. A rift in the air grew, longer and longer, a gash in the sky. The Keyblade was vibrating in his hand, and a tornado of energy was descending upon them all._

_Sora's brain didn't register the fact that he should probably move. Run away even. Instead, Sora stood still as the whirling energy touched the ground. Almost instantly, Sora could feel his feet leave the ground, slowly and delicately at first. But then he was rushing into the sky, his body being sucked into the rift. _

_Before coming into contact with the rift, Sora finally felt a twinge of fear. But there was no more time to scream. _

_They touched the rift. A flash. Then, nothing. _

* * *

He squinted his eyes and looked around the room again. The lights were still moving, but they now seemed to have an order of sorts, and as his headache began to die away, he found that he knew exactly where he was.

'_The Lift Stop!'_ His mind screamed at him. He had somehow arrived at Hollow Bastion. But instantly, he knew that something was going on. Explosions rocked through the ancient castle.

Sora looked at his companions. "Well? What are we waiting for?! Let's go!!" Sora broke into a run, Donald and Goofy faithfully by his side.

* * *

Sorry about the short chapter. And also sorry about being slightly late. I'll make the next one longer, I promise. Review! 


	26. Knowledge

Late again, as usual. However, compared to others who take like a _year_ to update, I'm still right on time.

* * *

Kairi heard the doorknob squeak as it was being turned. She saw the door open. And watched as five Unknown walked in, took hold of her, and shoved her out into the hallway.

"Hey!" Kairi screamed. "Let me go!" The Unknown who held her did nothing of the sort. "Not just yet, Princess. Your part will come soon enough." Kairi didn't bother protesting any further. Yelling at these guys was like yelling at a wall. She was wasting her voice for nothing.

* * *

Sora raced through the castle. He could sense a huge level of energy ahead, energy powered by darkness. However, he could also sense a fading portion of light. _'All the darkness around me must be clouding my mind. That light has to be Kairi, and there is no way that her light would fade. Unless….'_ Sora didn't want to follow that train of thought. Kairi was okay. She _had_ to be. And in order to get to her, he had to get past the looming darkness before him.

Sora skidded around a corner, and followed a path that led him to the outdoor portion of the castle. Sora didn't stop to smell the fresh air, he kept on running at high speed. Kairi was close, he could feel it.

Sora whipped around another corner, and came face to face with the darkness he was sensing. "You again? So soon?" The man drew his sword. "You must have a death wish."

Sephiroth

At first, Sora was overcome by the painfilled memories of Sephiroth, more importantly, the memory of what happened so few days ago. But then, Sora saw past the warrior and watched as a familiar girl with long, red hair was ushered out of the castle and up an exterior flight of stairs.

_'Kairi!!'_ Sora was reminded of why he had come to Hollow Bastion, and his body flowed with energy. He would let nothing stand in his way now. Not even Sephiroth. Sora's Keyblade was in his hand before he knew it. "I don't have time for this!" He roared, charging the man in front of him.

Sephiroth was caught off-guard by the fury of the attack and was smashed to the ground as Sora used a powerful move that resembled Cloud's Sonic Blade. However, Sora didn't stop to look at his handiwork. He had seen Kairi not a football field away. He was catching up.

* * *

BHK moved quickly, but silently through the halls. He suddenly stopped and looked carefully at the picture of the laughing fat man next to him. BHK sighed. "Yep. Been here before…." In truth, BHK had no sense of direction what so ever.

"Damn….Now which way was I supposed to take?" BHK felt another explosion rock the castle. "What in the heck is going on here anyway?!" BHK yelled, steadying himself. In a strange type of answer, Heartless Soldiers ran towards him from out of nowhere.

Also, from out of nowhere, came a large battle cry. "HAA!!" Two steps away from reaching him, the Heartless were destroyed. From a nearby corridor a man stepped. His hair was beginning to gray and he was clothed in a long red jacket, but had one arm resting inside of it. The man was tall, and had a scarred eye behind dark glasses.

"Thanks old man." BHK said, announcing his presence along with his gratitude. "But I probably could've handled them myself."

"Whatever" said the man. "The young generations these days don't know how to show gratitude." He shrugged. "I guess every era has its little perks." The old man drew a long sword and looked around the hallway, before resting his eye back on BHK. "You haven't happened to see a spiky haired blonde guy running around have you?"

BHK shook his head. "Haven't seen anything except the Heartless around here old man." The old man shook his head. "You kids don't have any sense of patience either."

He raised his sword and pointed it down different hallways, it was several go-around's before he settled on a direction. He immediately set off down the hallway, but stopped for a last word. "For the next time we meet, the name is Auron." He continued his brisk walk. "And don't you forget it!"

BHK watched silently as the retreating back of the swordsman left his view. BHK shrugged, he had his own people to look for. BHK decided to take the path from which Auron had initially appeared, at the end of the corridor was a long stairway. BHK sighed and started on his way up.

* * *

Sora rushed up the steps, taking them two by two. As Sora reached the top, panting, he saw the five hooded men again. They were standing above the trio on a high plateau in a V-formation, with the Heartless symbol engraved below their feet. Sora looked stared at them from every angle he could manage, looking for even a glimse of a checkered skirt or a flash of red hair.

"Sora!" Kairi yelled, breaking through the Unknown ranks. Her struggle was easily ended a second later however, as the Princess was forced behind them again. This time, her limbs were bounded with thick corded rope.

Sora desperately stretched out a hand. "Kairi!!" The Unknown laughed in unison at the poor boy's attempt to reach the Princess. Sora reverted his attention to them with a surge of anger. "Let Kairi go!"

They laughed again. Sora couldn't see any of their faces, but the one in the middle was obviously the leader, and the person who seemed to speak next. "Who are you, Keyblade Master? Who are you to order the Unknown as if we were mere servants to you?!" The Unknown continued to laugh.

Sora's anger was steadily rising. "You heard what I said! Stop laughing and hand her over now!!"

"Ha! Or else what?!"

Sora's rage broke loose. With a low, rumbling growl Sora charged toward them. He didn't care about anything. Not about how in the world he would get up to where they were standing, so high above him. Not one bit of curiousity about their powers. He only cared for Kairi. And for doing as much damage to those laughing idiots as he could.

The Unknown stopped laughing, and the leader raised his sleeve. Sora never knew what hit him. The Keybearer tumbled back, head over heels before finally stopping at the feet of Donald and Goofy.

Sora groaned and, (with the help of his friends) stood up. Now, he was dizzy, had his old headache back, and was even angrier than before. The Unknown seemed to understand this, which caused them to laugh all over again."You bastards!"

The leader shook his head, still quietly laughing inside that robe of his. "Such a peculiar object the heart is. Capable of so much stress, emotion, and never does it complain. Humans are the **Masters** of their respective worlds!" The Unknown exclaimed, raising his hands in the air dramatically. This simple gesture only served to annoy Sora more.

"Do you know why that is?" Sora thought for a moment, looking for the answer in spite of himself. "Don't bother, I'll tell you. Humans rule over their worlds because, they have the most complex hearts, and the most powerful minds of all other creatures, which give them the ability to perceive the heart for what it truly is.

"With these powers, all other forms of existence quake in awe of our genius. Bow in respect of our strength. And tremble in fear of our wrath! **_This_** is why we are so powerful. The heart, and the mind. We can only go so far with out the heart. We can barely move without the mind. But it is now clear to us that the mind can override the instinct of the heart, and therefore, we have come to the conclusion that in the end, the heart is not necessary."

Sora swung his Keyblade as if to bat those words away. "Of course the heart is necessary! Where would we be if it weren't for our heart, huh?! We wouldn't be able to feel anything. Happiness, love…or even anger!!" Sora aimed his Keyblade at the dead center of the Unknown.

"Such emotion, such energy! Yes, these _feelings_ come from the depths of your heart, yet something holds you back from attacking me." Sora scowled. "That something is _reason_ and reason exists solely in the mind and soul. The last time, you rushed in following your heart, being the reckless hero and throwing caution to the winds. And for your effort, you were smacked back to square one. So now you stand there, bluffing your strength and courage, when really your tail hides between your legs."

Sora had no response to this, he was too busy trying to contain his rage. Rage at the himself, for not saving Kairi already, and for acting like a fool charging the Unknown like that. And, rage at the Unknown, for being aholes and, more importantly, for being right.

"Aargh!" Sora rushed again. The Unknown raised his hand, but Sora was ready now. He dove to the right, and felt the wind rush past his ear meaning that he had successfully dodged the invisible blow.

Sora returned to his feet and sped forward again, ducking, doging, weaving in and out, avoiding every one of the Unknown's attacks. Sora reached the wall and leapt up, higher than even he had expected. His feet touched the wall and Sora flipped backward instinctively, pushing of the wall for an extra boost in height.

Sora was now sailing softly through the air, on level with the Unknown. "This is the power of my heart!" Sora unleashed the enormous energy of Ragnorok. He'd been charging his blade ever since Donald and Goofy had picked him up, and now, he was about to see the results.

The Unknown seemed confused for a moment, but as the Ragnorok came closer to its target, it was knocked away.

Sora took the facts in one passing moment. The Unknown's hand was steaming, a result of coming into contact with the Ragnorok, which had now smashed into the side of the castle, below a high window.

The rubble was falling, Sora was falling. He could see the giant stones destination. He could see the terror in the young girl's clear eyes. Sora blinked, and in that instant he heard the tons of brick, rock and stone crash upon the top of the wall. His eyes were closed. Sora hit the floor below him.

His eyes were closed, he hadn't seen Kairi being crushed. But he knew.

He knew.

* * *

Review Peeps!! 


	27. The Rising Falls

BHK was awakened by the feeling of cool water supporting his body. He rolled over to his stomach and slowly opened his eyes.

He _was_ laying on water. Water that did not make him wet, or allow him to plunge under the surface. Ahead of him, he could see a waterfall. No, the water was rising. If it could be called a waterfall, the water would be falling up.

"The Rising Falls of Hollow Bastion." Said a voice. BHK rolled over again. There was a strange girl looking down at him. She had brown hair and two differently colored eyes. One green, one blue. She gave a slight bow. "My name's Yuna." She said smiling.

BHK sat up and shook his head. "Where's Kairi?" Yuna waved her hand away, indicating a sleeping girl lying peacefully on the water.

"She'll probably be up in a moment. Between the fall and her near-death experience, she deserves a little rest." Yuna frowned. "What happened up there anyway?"

BHK looked up at her, breaking his gaze from Kairi's resting form. "I was hoping you could tell me the same thing. Kairi and I really shouldn't have survived that fall." Yuna knelt down beside him. "Why don't you tell your side, and I'll tell mine?"

BHK nodded. "Well…."

* * *

BHK sighed, and he began his ascent via the stairway. After walking for a good five minutes straight, and after wondering if he was going anywhere at all, an explosion knocked him to the ground.

He quickly kicked to his feet and ran over to a window he had just noticed. He stuck his head outside and looked down. A little way below him, a smoking crater had formed in the side of the castle.

BHK knew that the wall was not going to hold much longer, and he briefly considered returning to his (quickened) ascent up the stairway. But then he saw the hair. Kairi was bound in rope below him, and the wall was beginning to give way.

Another movement caught his eye. The Keyblade master was in the air, near Kairi, but unable to help her at all. BHK's mind raced. He had two choices. One: Make his way down and meet up with Sora, or, Two: Save Kairi. Though the urge to join Sora was almost unbearable, BHK knew what he had to do.

The wall began to collapse, huge pieces of stone tumbled through the air, threatening to crush the onlookers below. BHK had to act, now. He dove through the window and out into open space, with no plan whatsoever.

BHK was forced to rely on reflex, as his mind held no spectacular last minute ideas, and he had betrayed his instinct. After all, for _normal_ people (BHK included), instinct would never tell you to enter a drop from at least six stories up without a parachute strapped to your back.

The falling blocks had a heavy lead on him. He pointed his body ground-ward and slapped his arms to his side and legs together to attempt to increase his descent. In this way, his body reduced the friction of the air, so he could move faster, but not fast enough. In a few more seconds Kairi would be crushed.

BHK drew Oblivion. "Shatter!" He called to it, he could barely hear his own voice above the roaring wind in his ear. BHK hurled the Oblivion toward on of the stones in his way. He would not reach Kairi, before those bricks did, but maybe he could still get her out of the path of danger.

The Oblivion sliced through the rock as if it were paper, leaving it in two even sized pieces. They slammed into the ground on either side of Kairi, leaving her very shaken but otherwise unharmed.

But the danger had not been resolved yet. There was still heavier debris after him, and two more slabs of stone were on a deadly collision course with Kairi's skull. The Oblivion had not yet returned to him, so BHK had to try something different until it did.

BHK drew the Oathkeeper, and used its energy to shift the Aero spells into something more suited for the situation at hand. Once he had the idea of what he wanted clear in his mind, BHK shouted the spell's name, and forced it through the blade to bring it to life. "Aero!"

BHK could feel a whirling blanket of air surround him. By using the Aero spell in this form, he could manipulate the air around him, mostly to give him and added boost by blasting it under his feet and onto a hard, solid object. BHK smiled. The debris all around would do nicely.

BHK shot down through the mayhem, passing one of the boulders in his way, just as the Oblivion was returning. The blade also happened to smashed the second slab in its way.

Now all that was left was Kairi. BHK had one chance to do this right, or they'd both be crushed. BHK jet off the rock behind him and as the moment drew nigh, could think of nothing about how to save the Princess.

She had fought her way out of the rope around her legs, and was now standing perfectly still, frozen, as there was nowhere for her to run. Even if she stepped off the edge behind her….

BHK made up his mind. He repositioned his body to "land" just a little over the edge. He used the last of the Aero in one final shot and threw himself into Kairi, sending the both of them over, and falling even more, towards an unseen ground below.

Kairi was screaming in his ear. BHK didn't even think she knew that he was holding onto her. BHK even doubted she saw him coming in the first place. But for some reason, BHK couldn't focus on these thoughts. Or any for that matter. His mind was beginning to fog over, he couldn't keep himself awake.

* * *

"The last thing I remember is hitting something soft, and losing all the strength I had left." BHK reported to Yuna. He looked at the strange girl. "Now it's your turn. Explain how we ended up down here."

Yuna smiled. "Unlike yours, my story isn't nearly so complicated. I had been walking around near the dining room, looking for Kairi. But she didn't show up, which made me a little worried. In the short time I've known her, she's never been late. Not once."

Yuna smiled over at the (still) resting girl. "So, I thought that I'd look for her myself. I wandered through the castle for a bit and made my way to a balcony overlooking another entire side of the castle. I saw an explosion, two people falling, and I realized that one of them was Kairi.

"I wished for something to save her, and an enormous bird swooped down from the sky and caught you both. Valefor came back to get me after he had set you two down in a safe spot." Yuna ended.

"A bird huh? That would explain the soft thing I felt." BHK said, absently rubbing his cheek. "Where'd you get the name Valefor from?"

"I didn't give him his name. He told me what it was." Yuna said in defense.

"What? It can speak too?"

"No…not really." Yuna mumbled looking down at her hands, "I just sort of knew, okay? It just _felt_ like he had told me himself."

BHK shrugged and stood up, intending to check Kairi over again if she didn't wake soon. "So, how'd you summon it? A gem? A phrase?" He asked interestedly.

Yuna, however, was bewildered. "Summon? So it really _is_ me that's bringing these creatures here?"

"Who else? Unless the Unknown summoned it, but I doubt they'd save me too. Maybe not even Kairi. They were just using her as bait in the first place." BHK walked over to Kairi. "Look, just don't be afraid alright? Instead, why don't you try learning about it instead, see what you can summon and what you can't. If you have the power, then put it to some good use" BHK looked back at Yuna and grinned. "Alright?"

Yuna nodded. "Alright."

BHK crouched next to Kairi. "I think she's stirring."

* * *

Review! Next Chapter coming soon.


	28. A Golden Key

So here I am, coming down with the flu, my throat is sore, my body aches, I have a temperature of 100.4, and what do I do? I say to myself, _'Ya know, you'd better update!'_ I must be delirious. I have the flippin' flu! Update! Are you joking! _'Nope'_ ….. Fine then…..

* * *

'_Dead!'_ Sora thought wildly. _'How could she be dead!'_ It wasn't possible. Kairi couldn't die. Not after all they'd been through. He wouldn't accept it. Kairi could not be dead!

Sora opened his eyes. The Unknown above him were scrambling, shouting at each other, obviously shaken about the enormous pile of rubble behind them. "Where is she!" One of them shouted.

"I can still sense her heart! Go retrieve the girl now!" That same Unknown shouted. Sora stood up. _'She not dead? They can still sense her! Kairi's okay!'_ Sora was instantly relieved, and was just as quickly on edge again. The Unknown had regrouped.

"Now, where were we?" The leader took his place again. To Sora, this might have been funny in a different situation. However, it was also slightly unnerving at the same time; despite all the dust, dirt and gravel that was hurled into the atmosphere during the collision, their suits remained a shiny black, devoid of all filth.

Sora smiled. "I was about to beat you guys, save Kairi, and go to destroy the Heartless once and for all."

The Unknown started to laugh again. Sora's eyebrow twitched. "That sounds like quite a task young one, you'd better get started." The Unknown crossed his arms. "What was that first one…? Beat us down, I believe it was?"

The ground beneath Sora's feet shook, and assorted Heartless began to surround the trio. Donald visibly tightened his grip on his wand, and Goofy raised his shield. Sora ran straight for the Heartless, the Keyblade knocked aside the first few attackers, and then the battle was on.

Sora swung the Keyblade in wide swipes, destroying numerous Heartless, but also leaving a decent opening for attack. A hovering Gargoyle hurled a dark blast straight for Sora's chest. The Keyblade master just barely missed the blow as a Shadow's claw against his leg forced him to drop down in pain.

Another Shadow slashed at him but he rolled away, and into the clutches of nearby Wyvern. The beast's talons dug into his left shoulder. Sora cried out as he felt blood trickle down his arm and as he was lifted into the sky.

At a good height of 15 ft, the Wyvern was destroyed by a seemingly random bolt of lightning. Sora dropped and landed on his left side, further aggravating his shoulder. From here, Sora could see Donald standing with his wand aimed at the space where the Wyvern had just been.

Sora needed a small amount of time to recover and get back to his feet, but five heartless Soldiers were apparently rather impatient. They rushed at Sora attempting to use his moment of weakness to their advantage.

Goofy smashed through them from the side, taking each Soldier down before any more damage could be done. He came to stand in front of Sora and Donald, his shield still raised. He looked over his shoulder. "You guys okay?" He asked.

Sora shrugged to his feet. "Nothing permanent." Donald simply nodded. "Ha!" The Unknown yelled. Sora, having forgotten him, quickly looked up, to see the Unknown raise his hands.

"Quantum!" The middle one yelled. Almost instantly, the air around another Unknown began to ripple, as a strange energy emanated from him. Sora felt a jolt run through his body as an invisible force took hold of him and brutally threw him into the air. Donald and Goofy were with him too.

And just as quickly, they were all slammed back into the Earth below them. Then, a wide blast of energy blew the trio back. They rolled, bounced, and slid across the floor.

Sora's body was racked with pain. Panting, he slowly rolled to his back and gave the world time to stop spinning. '_Well, we could have thought that through just a wee bit more….'_

"Hahahahaha! Maybe your list needed some editing?" The leader of the group was now down on their level, however was still far away. Too far for the exhausted Keyblade Master. The Unknown shrugged. "Maybe you'll have time to re-write it in the next world over."

On cue, the Heartless moved as one, one dark mass of destruction. Sora could do nothing but prop himself on one elbow, and raised his Keyblade in a feeble defensive position.

Sora painfully shut his eyes. Once again, he was faced with certain death. Once again, their was no conceivable means of escape.

Sora slid open an eye. The Heartless were gone. Instead, a cloaked figure stood in Sora's view, a figure with incredibly large ears, and a golden Keyblade shining in one hand.

* * *

Yeah, I know it's a short chapter. Impossibly short. Tremendously. This was actually supposed to be longer, But what d'you expect! I've got the flu! _'Quit yelling.'_ And I'm talking to myself! Just…go get me a Kleenex okay? 


	29. To the Chapel

Second chapter put up today! Obviously feeling slightly better…. _'Slightly…'_ Shut UP!

* * *

Donald, Sora, and Goofy stared open-mouthed at the figure before them. However, in truth, they were staring harder at the weapon he was wielding. A gold Keyblade. 

"That couldn't be…" Sora started. "Impossible!" Donald continued, shaking his head and nodding at the same time.

"Your Majesty?" Goofy asked quietly. The figure half-turned and lowered his hood, revealing the smiling face of King Mickey. "Hiya, fellas! Long time no see huh?"

For a second, the trio was shocked back into silence. Then the questions began to flow. "Where have you been?" Goofy asked first, followed closely by Donald's question of: "How'd you escape?"

But the question that pulled the most at Sora's heart, "Where's Riku?" The King smiled in the face of this onslaught, but all four of them noticed that the Unknown were gathering again.

The King's face took on a serious tone as he raised his Keyblade in front of him. "Look guys, we don't really have too much time to talk. Sora, you need to get out of here ASAP. The energy levels gathered here are slowly tearing the Hollow Bastion apart." The Unknown were approaching.

"Sora, in less than an hour this castle will crumble. You three need to be off this world by then. The Princesses have gathered in the Chapel, go talk to them and then get out as quickly as you can." The King gestured toward the Unknown. "I'll take care of them."

"But where's Riku?" Sora asked again, more firmly this time. Donald nudged him, but he didn't care. He had to know where his friend was. The King sighed. "I can't tell you everything here and now, but he's close don't worry about him Sora. And you guys," He said, pointing at Goofy and Donald, "shouldn't worry about me. Your appointed mission is still to follow the one with the Keyblade. If you do this right, we will meet again."

King Mickey smiled. "Be careful you guys, but go, and be quick about it! The clock's ticking." The trio nodded as one, then ran to find the Princesses. The Unknown seemed of a mind to chase after them.

"Uh, uh, uh…." The King said waving his index finger in the air. "Now you guys have to deal with me." King Mickey smiled and took up a fighter's stance, power rising from his Keyblade.

The Unknown started to back away.

* * *

"Kairi! I need you to run a scan of the castle!" BHK called up to the Princess, who was now awake, and back in the Gummi Ship. Yuna was walking around the ship for the third time now, looking at it in awe. Vaguely, BHK wondered if taking her with them would upset the World Order. But he also knew that she had now where else to go. He shrugged it off. 

"The castle's in bad shape," Kairi reported, staring at the computer's information. "Even though it doesn't show it, Hollow Bastion won't be standing too much longer. Its been weakened at key structural points by the explosions and stuff going on up there. The computer estimates it'll be up for another 45 minutes or so."

_'Great….'_ BHK's eyes scaled the walls of Hollow Bastion and he wondered how fast he could run up so many stairs.

"What is taking you so long?" BHK whipped around, Yuna stopped pacing, and Kairi looked toward the voice. None of them had noticed the Unknown appear. Kairi squinted at him. This one was tall, with a black blindfold covering his eyes. A black hood covered the rest of his head, save for a few silver-white strands of hair. But what was the strangest part of the picture was that BHK had not even drawn his Keyblades yet.

She gasped as she looked the figure over again. BHK looked sharply up at her. "You…!" Kairi whispered, pointing at the Unknown. BHK shook his head, and the Princess quieted down.

"I'm sorry Princess, but for now, I have no name. We know too little to have such luxury." The man said. He then turned to BHK again. "Time is running out. Neither of you will be able to last too much longer separated. The darkness you face is becoming too strong. If you don't fight together, you will both be devoured by it."

BHK nodded. "I understand. He's in there right?"

"Yes. He's moving to the other Princesses as we speak. You must meet with him as soon as possible. He must make it to the Door."

"Even so, one Keyblade can not do this alone. Each has to play its part. I know that the Key of Light is safely in the King's possession. But what of the third Key? Can the dark blade be retrieved?"

"It can if it must be. No Keyblade can truly be destroyed. Including the Key of Darkness."

"Good. Well then, I'd better be going. Time waits for no one." BHK sighed.

"Hollow Bastion is falling apart."

"I know."

"Yet you still go inside?"

"It has to be done."

The cloaked man grinned. "I no longer doubt you, nor the Keybearer. This story may have a happy ending after all."

"You shouldn't have doubted in the first place." BHK said back, an eyebrow raised.

The man nodded. "My mistake." BHK set off toward the castle Hollow Bastion. "Princess?" Kairi understood.

"37 minutes left."

"You hear that?" The cloaked man asked as BHK passed. The man was straightening his hood and beginning to return to the persona of an Unknown.

The Unknown nodded to both BHK and Kairi, then vanished. Yuna hadn't understood most of the conversation, but she knew one thing by the look on her friends' faces. They had a man on the inside.

* * *

Ha! Now no one can say my chapters were too short. I put up two in a row! On the same day! So, together, it avearges out to about four pages. Now, Review. 


	30. Face Off

I updated twice in one day. I put the first chapter up, 1, 2 hours at the most, its on the net. A few hours later I put the second chapter up. 4, 5 hours later, still hasn't shown…. WTF! _'Its just the way things are.'_ I hate you…

* * *

Sora took the stairs two by two as he raced to the Chapel. It was time to get some answers, and he had no idea how long he had to get them. Goofy having longer legs, (and the enormous shield) was ahead, and Donald, being the shortest, was far behind.

They entered a lift stop and crowed in one of those strange elevators. It took them up, around, and right in front of the door they wanted. Goofy tried to open it. The door wouldn't budge.

Sora tried to unlock it with the Keyblade, and Goofy tried it again. Still nothing. "They've welded the doors shut!" Called a feminine voice from the other side of the door. One of the Princesses no doubt. Sora couldn't remember which one. He only really knew Belle and Jasmine.

The Keyblade Master took a moment to think. Magic wouldn't work here, and the Keyblade obviously couldn't un-weld things. Which only left brute force. Sora grinned, thinking back to the ancient rules of video games he used to play. When one was stuck, blow things up!

"Stand back from the door!"

Sora slipped on the Metal Chobocco and watched as the Keyblade swiftly transformed. Sora hefted the heavier Keyblade to his shoulder, then still with a slight grin and a battle cry, smashed the blade across the door.

The wood crashed in and splintered leaving bits and pieces of the door all over the floor on either side of the doorway, as well as throwing a cloud of dust into the air. Through it all, Sora could see several figures moving within and behind it. The Princesses.

Sora stepped into the chapel and noticed Alice, Belle and Aurora standing alone. "Where are all the other Princesses?" Goofy asked.

"They haven't been summoned yet. We're still busy in the process of what this all means." Aurora answered. Sora raised an eyebrow. "Could somebody just tell me what's going on?"

Belle stepped up to answer. "We're not entirely sure, Sora. The problem is, that we aren't just facing the Heartless anymore. Some new force is at work here."

Sora had a vague memory of himself racing down an alleyway, trying to keep up…. "Wait! Could you be talking about those white things?"

"Possibly, Keyblade Master." Aurora said. "All we really know is that its powerful, and we can't stop it." Belle continued. "If it were Darkness, we might be able to hold it back a little." Alice said.

"But it isn't, Princess Alice." Sora whirled, a new person had entered the room unnoticed. He wore a long red cloak with bandages covering the majority of his face. "And you are nearly helpless to do anything about it." He laughed.

"You know Light, you live with Darkness surrounding you all…yet now is the arrival of a new breed. Light, Darkness, and the third power." Sora switched back to Kingdom Key and took on a defensive stance. "Who are you! And what's this power everyone keeps talking about!"

"What is the third power? Ha! As if you could understand." Something was nagging Sora. Where had he heard that voice before…? "But I'll humor you" Red Coat drew a gleaming circle in the air, with Light at the top, Darkness near the bottom and the third power in the middle. Red Coat read what the diagram showed. "Between the Light and Darkness, there exists a third power. The third power equals nobody. Who are the nobodies? They are the Non-Existent Ones."

"Oh no…" Sora muttered. "Not this crap again…Look, that didn't help! I don't even care who the nobodies are! So just stop talking and stay out of my way!" Aurora placed a restraining hand on Sora's shoulder. He winced. It was still aching. "Hold Keyblade Master."

"What is the power after? What are you after?" Belle asked. Red Coat locked his visibly eye on Belle. "I am Diz, leader of this Organization. The most of our members were born of the nobodies. However we have been able to raise above their level and have started to make way for a new existence.

"As we have regained the ability to plan ahead, we have uncovered the truth. We will use our power to save humanity! With the control of the Heartless, the nobody, and our own talents, not even the Keyblade Master will stand in our way." The eye drifted to Sora as he spoke.

"What truth have you discovered?" Aurora asked, her grip tightening on Sora's shoulder. The air around Diz was filled with mounting tension. "The truth about the Door."

"The Door of Light!" Sora demanded. "What about it?"

"Its true nature and what it brings, has been forever concealed in darkness, but no longer."

"Stop stalling!" Sora shouted. "What are you talking about!"

"The Door of Light. Brings the apocalypse." Sora didn't understand what he was hearing. "What?"

"In opening the Door, you shall bring about the destruction of all worlds."

* * *

BHK threw himself inside a room just as the hallway celing collapsed behind him, sealing his exit. _'This place is coming down. I need to find Sora now!'_ BHK stood and dusted himself off while checking his surroundings to see if he still knew where he was.

He didn't. He was in a large, dark, circular room with one door on the other side. "Great. So now I'm lost in a castle that's about to come down on my head. Beautiful." BHK started across the room, but was stopped by a pillar of flame that erupted in the middle of the floor.

The searing heat forced BHK back against the wall, with his arms across his face in protection. He squinted under his arms to see a figure in the midst of the flame. And, just as suddenly as the pillar appeared, it was gone.

Another Unknown seemed to be the cause of it. He stood and removed his hood. BHK's jaw clenched. He had seen this one before. The only unknown so far to remove his hood. This was the guy who had taken Kairi.

"So, you're the one. The strange presence that the Master had sensed." Axel looked him over and smiled. "You don't seem like much. Its actually pretty impressive that you made it this far without any help." Axel's smiling stopped. "But your journey ends here."

BHK checked his watch. 15 minutes were left, meaning he had about 5 minutes to deal with this guy. "Oh don't bother." Axel said to him. "The castle's condition shouldn't worry you. You've got all the time in the world. Do you want to know why?" Axel received no response. "It rather simple really. It's the fact that you won't be leaving this room alive." Axel smiled again. "None of your friends will either. The Keyblade Master might escape if the Master is inclined to allow it, but the blonde fool with the big sword? He's about to meet who he's been looking for."

Axel rose slowly into the air until he hovered at twenty feet above BHK. "But now back to the moment at hand. I am Axel, second in command of the Organization. Second only to the Master." Axel threw his arms wide and circular blades appeared in his hands. "I control the awesome powers of the Elements themselves. Water, Earth, Fire, and Lightning. Along with the primary Elements, I control the secondary that were born from them; Ice, Wind, Gravity, etc, etc. You have no hope."

A ring of fire surrounded them, and blocked the open door. "None shall stand in the way of the Organization!" BHK whipped out his Keyblades. The five minutes were about to begin.

* * *

Sephiroth laughed from his perch, one leg dangling freely off the edge of the balcony. The blonde below him looked up and drew his sword. "So you were the occupant of the third ship. I should have known, you always have been rather persistent." Sephiroth called.

"Let's finish this Sephiroth!" Cloud yelled from below. Sephiroth's hair waved in the breeze and for a moment, he looked at peace. But then he stretched his black wing and yawned. "Why not? I've got a little time to spare." He threw himself over the balcony and landed softly a moment later.

He rested his right hand on the hilt of his Mursame. "Are you ready?"

"Cloud!" Auron yelled, having finally caught up with the warrior. He drew his sword and stood next to him. "You weren't going to start the fun with out me were you?"

* * *

"The pieces are in place! The Organization shall save humanity from destruction. And you, Keyblade Master, are helpless to stop it." Diz spat.

Sora's Keyblade pulsed, ready for action. "We'll see about that! I don't know what the heck you're talking about, I don't care! All I know is that you're going down!"

* * *

Yes! I'm feeling it! The energy is rising. The tension is so great…! Get ready! Next Chapter: Clash! Part 2! Tri-Battle!

Review!


	31. Clash! Part 2, Tribattle!

Sorry about the long delay, but our computer wouldn't run the internet. But...now...We got a Dell! Sweet...This thing rocks..

* * *

BHK rolled out of the way of another pillar of fire that had made its way toward him. This didn't stop him though. Beyond the blistering heat, the potential to be attacked from any direction, and the fact that the castle was falling, what bothered him the most was Axel hadn't even started fighting yet. 

_'He's toying with me.'_ BHK thought. _'Either he's trying to gauge my reactions, learn my moves…or he knows he can win.'_ "Aero!" BHK yelled, using the wind spell to protect him from the latest flame assault. _'At least, he _thinks _he can beat me.' _

"Here we go!" BHK rushed at the hovering Axel. "Gravira!" The spell took Axel by surprise, and forced him down to the floor, where BHK had just reached. BHK drove into him, unleashing blow after blow from his Keyblades.

But it soon proved to be no use. Axel was faster than BHK could have imagined. He had dodged quite a few of the attacks, and in turn, used his own wind spell to buffer BHK back.

"I suppose I underestimated you" Axel stood, grinning. "This could actually prove to be fun." His circular blades lazily orbited around him, but now started to spin sharply. Axel pointed at BHK. "Go!" He commanded.

For a moment, BHK was confused. _'He's telling _me_ to leave..?'_ But then it was painfully clear as one of the blades rushed passed him, cutting deeply into his right shoulder. BHK held the pain in, refusing to show weakness, but his body betrayed him.

His hand dropped the Keyblade and instead put pressure on his burning shoulder. The spinning blade had returned to Axel. "The Fire and Wind Blades." Axel said, grabbing them both, "I made them myself. They were named after, and contain, my personal favorite combination of Elements. They follow my every command. Very deadly when I want them to be, you can vouch for that I'm sure."

The burning sensation was fading, and BHK chanced a look at his shoulder. The wound was black and already sealed. BHK picked up the Oathkeeper and stared at the Fire and Wind blades.

_'They act like the Lightsabers on Star Wars….'_ He couldn't help thinking, _'They cut with precision, and are so hot, they cauterize the wound, instead of letting it bleed freely.'_ BHK glanced at his shoulder again before raising his own blades. _'The only difference, this crap is real…. And it _hurts!_'_

Axel twirled his creations. "Ready for another go?" BHK dashed toward the oncoming Axel. They met in a blaze of fire.

* * *

Auron watched patiently from his position on the ground. As soon as the battle had started, Cloud and Sephiroth had more or less forgotten about him. The old ronin wondered vaguely about what had happened between the two. He didn't bother putting to much thought into it, though. He was sure he'd never know. 

Cloud was knocked to the floor, and Auron stood up. He wouldn't be forgotten so easily. Auron leapt into the sky, and slashed his sword down toward the Angel's head. It was blocked by Sephiroth, but had served its purpose. Cloud had returned to his feet.

Auron and Cloud attacked from both sides, and even Sephiroth could just barely keep up. Auron scored a deep gash into Sephiroth's back, which was matched by a heavy blow from the Buster Sword.

Sephiroth teleported some distance away, with his back near a wall so that Cloud or Auron would not be able to get behind him again. "Not bad," Sephiroth said. "But let's see you try this one!"

Sephiroth vanished. Auron quickly scanned the area, but could find no trace of the warrior until Cloud cried out. Auron whirled around to look at his ally. The blonde was on his knees, bleeding from a newly formed cut on his leg.

Cloud yelled again and Auron watched as the blonde's back was slashed. Auron couldn't even see the attacks, but now understood. Sephiroth was disappearing and reappearing at such a speed where he was virtually untouchable.

Auron couldn't allow Cloud to be cut into ribbons. "Stay still!" Auron called to Cloud. The old man unlocked a small amount of energy within his sword and leapt into the air. Upon his return to the earth, he drove the blade into the ground, and forced the energy out.

"Dragon Fang!" Auron twisted the blade, and a ring of explosions circled Cloud. Sephiroth was unveiled and caught in a blast. He was blown back to the wall he had just used as a defense, but Cloud was already charging him.

"Sonic Blade!" Cloud blasted into Sephiroth and forced him through the stone wall. Cloud's momentum carried him through as well. Auron walked over and peered over the edge, expecting to see two fading dots falling for the Rising Falls.

Cloud and Sephiroth had been lucky. They had landed (hard) on one of the various floating platforms that orbited the castle. Auron jumped down to help continue the fight.

* * *

Sora swung wide at Diz, who easily blocked, and sent a whirling kick at Sora's head. Sora's rusty limbs were still too slow to dodge, but Goofy shielded him from the attack. As Diz tried to keep his balance from Goofy's buffer, Sora slashed low, aiming for his opponent's legs. 

Diz quickly launched himself in the air to avoid the attack, but was brought to his knees from the force of Donald's Gravira. From his crouched position, Diz gave the trio a small applause. "You work well together," he said, "and I can now understand how you got this far. But in the state you are in, I can't see you progressing any farther."

Sora growled. "What's that supposed to mean!" Diz glanced at Sora. "What do you think? The level of power you possess is inadequate compared to the task you have set for yourselves. Even together, you lack the strength to defeat the upper class of Unknown that the Organization houses. All in all, I overestimated your strength. What a disappointment."

"Oh really?" Sora shot back, "Then how do you like this?" Sora came at Diz with a spinning Vortex, as the lead to set of his chain of attacks, but the chain was instantly broken as Diz smacked the Keyblade away. Sora's eyes widened. "Your attacks are too wild. Any proud fighter could block them."

Sora growled again and renewed his assault, this time he came from above with a heavy overhead smash, but Diz sidestepped, and at the same time, drove a fist into Sora's abdomen. Sora fell to all fours as he gasped for breath.

"That time," Diz commentated, "you were _far_ too slow. I could dodge attacks like that with my eyes closed, all day long." Sora pressed his forehead against the cool floor. He could feel his anger bubbling up to the surface again. Somewhere in the floor and walls he could hear cracking, it reminded him that the Hollow Bastion was about to come tumbling down.

Diz seemed to hear it too, but before he could act, an Unknown appeared at his side. "Master," he said, "the Phase 1 team has been wiped out." Diz showed no surprise on the visible parts of his face. "Very well. I am done here," Diz looked over the Keyblade Master again. "A complete waste of time. Deal with him Enigmatic Man, and I might overlook your failure." Diz strode out of the broken doorway, Sora attempted to pursue him, but E. stood in his way.

"Now," he said, "you deal with me." Sora's grip tightened on his Keyblade. "Fine then. You're _master_ comes next."

* * *

BHK's renewed Aero spell was holding up nicely against Axel's constant attacks, however BHK knew that if he stood in the fire for too much longer, he'd be burned to a crisp. 

Axel still had risen from the last Gravity spell, and BHK dodged a spout of fire to run toward him. In defense, the Fire and Wind blades came at him, but BHK wouldn't be taken by the same trick so easily.

He slid under the first blade as it sliced through the space where his head had been. BHK knocked the second blade aside with the Oblivion. Axel was surprised to see his precious creations avoided so easily. BHK grinned as he shouted the words; "Ars Arcanum!"

His Keyblades glowed with the familiar golden energy of the technique, and BHK let them do the work. Axel caught the full blast from the Arcanum and was smashed as BHK plowed into him. BHK ended in a double smash that forced Axel through his own fiery border, and smacked the back of his head against the stone wall, rendering him unconscious.

The ring of fire died down to embers. "Phew…"BHK gasped. "Lucky break. I was running out of energy again…." BHK checked his watch. He had done the opposite of what he had planned. 5 minutes remained before Hollow Bastion fell.

* * *

Cloud flew through the air, matching Sephiroth blow by blow. But to Auron it was clear. Cloud was fighting a losing battle. Cloud's energy was already fading, and Sephiroth knew it. 

The One-Winged Angel disappeared in a whirl of dark feathers and reappeared behind Cloud. Sephiroth blasted Cloud with a ball of dark energy and the blond warrior fell back to the platform.

Sephiroth descended as well. "Fool," He said looking upon the semi conscious form of Cloud Strife, "You came to Hollow Bastion with only half of the energy you had before. Any warrior, soldier, or a common street fighter knows that rest is one of the most essential ingredients to survival."

Sephiroth hooked his sword. "Until you give me an opponent truly worthy of this fight, you don't deserve to die." Sephiroth lifted Cloud with one arm, and tossed him over to Auron. "Take him with you. Hollow Bastion shall shortly be no more." Sephiroth disappeared in a flash, leaving one floating feather behind.

The platform stopped. Auron and Cloud had returned to the Castle Gates.

* * *

Enigmatic Man shot a ray of light straight for Sora's chest. Again, the Keyblade Master was rescued from the attack by Goofy and his shield, which reflected the beam back at E. Enigmatic Man dodged. 

Sora, Donald, and Goofy were all exhausted. E. was even trickier than Diz had been. He used energy to do battle. No weapons, or hand to hand combat, only long range attacks. It made it nearly impossible to get a hit on him.

"Stop it!" Donald yelled at the Enigmatic Man. The ground was starting to violently shake now. "Don't you see that if we keep fighting, we'll run out of time! We'll all be caught in the collapse!"

"Yeah!" Goofy and Sora added together.

"No." E. said. "Only one party shall escape with their lives today." E. stepped to the side. Another new gummi ship stood behind him. "If you defeat me in time, you will be able to escape. If not…then you will be crushed by the rubble that will be Hollow Bastion."

"You guys are all crazy!" Sora yelled. "But fine! If that's how its going to be, then stay here!" Sora charged in with the Keyblade shining. The light that was put off by it disoriented E, and allowed Sora his one chance.

"Strike Raid!" Sora called, as he hurled the Keyblade at E.

"Thundara!" Donald yelled.

"Tornado!" Goofy spun into E. as the three attacks converged onto one point. The Enigmatic Man.

E. slumped down, defeated, and Sora called his Keyblade back to him. "Go then." E. whispered. "Escape now, but do not go chasing after the Organization if you wish to live….You aren't ready. Not yet." E. faded away into nothingness.

The floor began to split in half, and Sora spun to retrieve the Princesses, but they were already gone. "C'mon Sora!" Goofy said pulling at the Keyblade Master's arm. "We've gotta go!"

Sora forced himself to believe that Belle and the others had already gotten away. Donald, Goofy, and finally Sora ran as fast as the could to the new gummi ship. The castle was falling around them.

* * *

Review! 


	32. Escape!

I had actually finished this chapter a few days ago, but was just too lazy to type it and update it, but here we go now.

* * *

BHK continued at high-speed through the Hollow Bastion, even though he now realized he wouldn't find Sora again. He rolled to the side as a cinder block fell from the ceiling.

The castle was in bad shape, and BHK's chances of survival were slimming every passing moment. He could actually feel the castle tipping over, rocking back and forth as if it was floating in the sea.

BHK shook his head to clear it, if he stayed in that spot for too much longer, then the ceiling would probably cave in completely on him. "Okay," he whispered to himself, "let's move." He dove forward as another block tried to smash him.

He landed off-balance, and a sudden lurch from the castle knocked him to a wall facing the outside world. The stone gave way and only a lucky catch on the remaining floor saved him from falling to his death, and BHK didn't fell quite lucky enough to try that again anytime soon.

He hauled himself up quickly after a moment of breathing, then ran through the rest of the hallway and turned a corner into a long corridor with a large door at the end. Even from where he stood, BHK could see the rubble that was piled up, blocking most of the door.

"Great…." The castle gave a violent shake and BHK braced his legs in order to stay upright. But then he heard the low rumbling above him. "Crap!" BHK broke into a mad dash for the door. The hallway above him was collapsing bringing with it parts of the wall, followed by its ceiling, the next hallway above _that_ one. It would result in an endless cascade until the chain was ended when it reached the top floor of the tower.

BHK was in the middle.

He moved as fast as his legs could take him, maybe even faster than that, but the was still only a few steps ahead of the thundering, crushing death behind him.

Only a few yards from the door! Could he make it? His lungs and limbs were burning, the collapse was gaining on him. BHK roared. "Comme ooonnn!"

BHK hopped and turned to face the raining rubble. But then he was moving again. A back-flip to launch into the air. He landed on his hands and vaulted off of the rock covering the door, somersaulting through the remainder of the doorway.

He landed softly on the other side, his body so charged with adrenaline that he barely felt the impact. The collapse thundered behind him, reached the door, piled up and sealed his exit yet again, but leaving him safe.

BHK brushed the collected dirt off his shoulder.

Then he took a step forward, without noticing the enormous hole in the floor. BHK landed painfully on his back several floors below, and with a soft humming in his ears.

He crawled to his feet and looked for the source. Last time he fell, the ringing was actually laughter. He glanced out of a window he found nearby, another section of wall missing near it. His gummi ship was hovering outside. "Stand back!" Kairi yelled through the cockpit.

BHK paled. "No, NO! Kairi don't!" BHK threw himself to the floor as the Gummi's turrets blew the rest of the wall apart. The resulting shockwave from the nearness lifted BHK and knocked him into the opposite wall. He could smell something burning. He hoped it wasn't anything permanent.

Kairi was edging the Gummi's wing toward him and opened the cockpit. "Jump in!" she yelled. BHK numbly followed the order and soon found himself slowly drifting through space as Hollow Bastion turned to ruin.

Kairi was smiling proudly. "How was that?" she asked innocently. BHK was taken by one more rush of energy. "What the Hell were you thinking! You nearly killed me! Blowing the wall up? _Are you crazy!_ Or did you not notice the pre-made gaping hole a few feet down!"

Kairi was now blushing furiously and BHK took this time to round on the computer. "And _you!_ You _let her!_ You could have easily notified her or calculated the chances, but you fired anyway!"

"I just follow the orders, Boss!" The computer replied. (BHK swore he could hear a joyous, mocking note in the comp's voice)

BBHK snorted. "Like hell you do….Smartass.." He found Kairi one more time. "Don't you ever, _Ever_, do anything like that again! Okay!" BHK closed his eyes, the adrenaline rush was draining and he was exhausted.

"And one more thing Kairi." He said quietly, already fading into sleep. "Yes!" came the angered and slightly hurt reply.

"Good job." Kairi's anger evaporated. "Thanks" she whispered.

All she got in reply was a loud snore.

* * *

Sora, Donald, and Goofy strode calmly through the dark streets they found themselves in. Donald had managed to activate a warp drive installed in the new Gummi ship to make their getaway.

Along with the warp drive, they had also discovered a large bad of Munny in one of the backseats. There had been a note pinned to it; "Rest up Keyblade Master, your journey isn't over yet."

Sora shrugged as he thought about it again. "We are in Traverse Town, right Donald?"

"Yes Sora! For the last time we are in Traverse Town!"

"It was just a question!"

"Well how many times are you going to ask it?"

"You guys shouldn't fight so much" Goofy said vaguely. "Whatever" Sora said, ending his mild spat with Donald (for now), "Let's just find Leon okay? He's got to be around here somewhere."

"If you speak of the devil," Leon said, walking casually around a corner and bouncing a fireball in one hand, "he may just appear." He closed his fist and extinguished the small light.

"Leon!" Sora said running up to him. "Who ya trying to be, Hades?"

"What's up kid, long time no see."

Sora hung his head. "Hollow Bastion's gone." Leon pinched the bridge of his nose and slowly shook his head. "….To tell you the truth, kid, I can't say I'm surprised."

"Why not?" Goofy asked.

"Before we left, Belle told us that you were on the move again. Trouble follows the kid wherever he goes."

"Like a magnet" Donald added.

"Well c'mon then," Leon said, "Cid and Yuffie will want to see you, and you look tired. We'll plan after you rest."

* * *

Ok, guys I need a week or two to collect my thoughts, and then I'll be back. This story is **_not_** on hold, it shouldn't take that long. Think of it as on pause. See you soon.

Oh, and review!


	33. Break

Told you it wouldn't take long. Now where were we?

* * *

BHK's eyes slid open, then shut immediately, overloaded with pain. He shook his head and opened his eyes again, cautiously. Squinting through the eyelids, BHK surveyed his surroundings.

BHK automatically realized the problem. Where ever he was, it was extremely bright. But it wasn't actually the place, he was on his back, looking towards the sun. BHK sat up. It was at this point that he noticed he was atop a tall building of some sort, his feet were dangling off the edge. BHK looked down. An _extremely_ tall building.

"There you are!" said a girl's voice behind him. "I knew you'd be dozing up here." BHK turned around, and was again blinded by light. "Earth to BHK!" said the voice. "Come on now sleepy-head…."

"What…?" BHK asked. "Where are you!"

"Wake Up!"

BHK lunged forward, an effective way to smash his forehead against the Gummi's dashboard. "Ow!" He said, rubbing his skull. "What's going on?"

"We decided to wake you up." Yuna said matter-of-factly. "And," she continued, "we wanted to decide what to do next."

"So you make me smash my head to wake me up?" BHK asked. Kairi laughed. "Hey, don't blame that on us! You're the one who jolted like that. You just don't wake up very well." BHK groaned. "Next time, just poke me or something alright?"

"What about me!" interrupted the computer. BHK looked at the monitor. "What  
about you?"

"Your head left a dent in my dashboard!" BHK's eye twitched. "What do you want me to say!" He asked. "I'm sorry? That _my_ head left a dent in _your_ dashboard!"

"Maybe" the computer answered. BHK shook his head. "How about you do something useful and then maybe I'll go about getting it out." The computer didn't reply. "Right. Run a scan for the nearest world. We're running low on supplies, and I could use some real food." The computer remained unresponsive. "That's a direct order." BHK added firmly.

The computer screen flickered and a scan began. The program was running slowly. BHK frowned. Ten minutes later, a beep sounded indicating that the scan was complete. The results read out on the screen.

"The closet world seems to be 2 days flight away. Crap. I don't feel like flying that long." BHK sighed. "Oh well. We might as well start off. Computer, set course for the targeted world. Full speed."

The ship stuttered forward, at barely even a quarter of "full".

* * *

"Hollow Bastion was doomed to fall anyway I'm afraid." Leon said without any emotion. They (being Sora and Leon) were standing just outside Cid's shop. "The darkness had continued to pour into the world. Even after you sealed Kingdom Hearts. It was just more subtle. Belle knew it. Aeris had too. In truth, we all did. But we didn't know what to do about it. Nor did we want to." Leon paused for a moment, eyes closed.

"We pretended that nothing was wrong. Kingdom Hearts was closed. Our problems should have been solved right?" He continued. Leon looked back at Sora. "Your job isn't done Sora. The universe still needs the Keyblade, and its master. If sealing the door to darkness didn't work, maybe opening the Door of Light will." Sora nodded.

"That's why I came here Leon. I need your help." Sora said. "The heartless keep getting stronger, and now there's some Organization controlling them. I'm getting left behind."

"I understand" Leon said. "I'll help you. We don't have all the time we'd like, but we can start your training tomorrow. Rest up Keyblade master."

* * *

A series of high-pitched beeps woke BHK from another peaceful slumber. _It seems to be a rule on this ship._ "What is it?" He asked the computer. "An unregistered spatial anomaly is within the vicinity." The computer reported. BHK shrugged. "Okay? Now how about you say that like you want me to understand it."

The computer made a strange noise (a sigh?) and rephrased. "Something is here that shouldn't be." BHK raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"A rift in space, resembling the properties of a wormhole. The anomaly does not appear on any scans of the area, yet here it is. Either my scanners are malfunctioning, or it shouldn't exist."

"Cool," BHK said, shrugging again. "Let's find out what its doing here."

"And how do plan to do that?" Kairi asked from the back, joining the conversation. "Easy," BHK replied. "We'll fly right into it."

Kairi looked through the windshield to view this "anomaly" with her own eyes. It was a deep purple, nearly invisible due to the surrounding darkness of space. Long tendrils of electricity were constantly traveling across its surface. "You can't be serious."

BHK gave a reckless smile, once again bearing a shocking resemblance to Sora. "Why not, what could happen?" Kairi stared at him. "Does that look safe to you!" she yelled, but he was no longer paying attention. "Computer" he said. "We fly into the anomaly."

"I cannot recommend that course of action, there is no way for the sensors to indicate where we'd end up, or if we'd even survive." The computer protested. "I thought you 'only followed orders'" BHK shot back. "We fly through, trust me. We'll make it through just fine."

"How can you be so sure?" asked Yuna suddenly, startling everybody.

"I've got a feeling."

_'A feeling he says!'_ Kairi shouted to herself silently. _'Oh god, we're all going to die….'_ "Computer!" BHK shouted. "Onward!" Kairi fastened her seat belt. Tightly.

The Gummi Ship made its way toward the wormhole. Immediately the ship began to rock. The various lights inside were flickering on and off. "We are meeting resistance from the anomaly."

"Push on! We'll break through!"

* * *

Review. 


	34. Deja Vu

Sorry, was gone on spring break for a week, with a little bit of writer's block included, but back now! Sweet. Oh and on a side note:

FuriousPins: You are an ass! Why would you review when you see me everyday? And then you pretend like you don't know what's going on. From now on, I'm telling you nothing about this story. You'll have to wait like everyone else.

Now that that's out of the way I'd like to thank, No name, Mikol, YO Momma, Palantiri, and everyone else who's reviewed. You guys keep me going. Oh and Rikku, "WOOT WOOT!"

* * *

The Gummi Ship tumbled rapidly through the vortex its captain had eagerly flown through. As BHK's stomach began to returned from its perch in his throat, only then did he wonder if this had been a good idea. 

Then suddenly, they were free, thrown into a new world. BHK grabbed the controls and brought the Gummi Ship to a hover, had he been a second late they would have crashed.

Kairi hurriedly opened the cockpit and hopped out, looking rather green in the face. Yuna followed after, looking dazed, but it was hard for BHK to tell. She always looked that way. BHK stepped out onto the wing of the ship, but the Gummi lurched and he was thrown to the ground face-first. They had landed on a small grass covered hill overlooking a city.

The Gummi ship flew off to find a place to "park". "That ship is getting worse." BHK said to himself. "Its probably still mad at you for leaving that dent in its dashboard." Yuna told him.

"Mad? That's the problem right there. It is a computer system, it shouldn't, _doesn't_ have emotions!" BHK said frowning. "That ship is becoming more trouble than its worth." BHK looked over to their companion Princess. "You okay Kairi?"

She mumbled something to herself. BHK couldn't catch it, but Yuna did. "She said she loves land." Yuna listened a little longer. "A great deal it seems."

"Oh." BHK said, eyebrows raised. He stood up. "Alright then. Let's find out where we are." BHK looked down the trail, and paused when he saw a large building in the center of the town. "What'cha looking at?" Yuna asked, stepping up beside him. BHK broke from the trance and blinked a couple times.

"Nothing….Just had a bit of déjà vu…." He answered finally. "Oh? Have you been here before?" Yuna asked interestedly.

"Nope. Not that I know of. C'mon, see if you can get Kairi some walking will help her out."

Several minutes later, the three had safely reached the town. _'Twilight Town'_ said a voice in BHK's head. He looked around, but there was nobody who could have whispered it to him, or anything of the sort.

Feeling strange, he continued on, moving toward the center of the town. They passed several shops, hotels and restaurants, but didn't stop. _'Not yet.' _BHK thought. _'I feel like there's something I need to see.'_

BHK turned and saw a large sign, strategically placed so that the reader could get a full view of the towering clock-tower behind it, a few streets away. The sign showed only the name that had previously come to him. Twilight Town.

_'How did I know?_' BHK wondered. He stared at the clock tower. _'That building is too familiar. Everything is starting to seem that way. Maybe Yuna was right? _Have_ I been here before?'_

"I'm getting hungry." Yuna absently mentioned somewhere near him. BHK slowly nodded. "Right…right. Let's go eat then, sightseeing tomorrow." BHK turned away from the sign and ominous clock-tower. But he could feel the truth in his mind. He was reluctant. He wanted to find out what the hell was going on.

BHK grabbed Kairi's arm and steered her into a section of Twilight town that was filled with restaurants. "So which one will it be?" BHK asked her. "Olive Garden? Or Red Lobster?"

The thought of seafood made Kairi groan. It wasn't the food itself, normally she loved sea food. She had lived on an island for the majority of her life. Seafood wasn't hard to come by. The thought of being on a boat, bobbing and rocking in the ocean made her queasy. That recent Gummi Ship ride had reminded her enough.

"Olive Garden it is."

* * *

BHK had returned to the top of the clocktower, it was a nice day, the norm for Twilight Town. The sun was high, and he could see for miles. BHK yawned. "There you are! I knew I'd find you dozing up here." Said the voice. BHK turned and looked at the blonde girl behind him, her blue eyes showing a hint of mirth. 

"Hey," BHK replied. "How've you been-" BHK stopped. The girl was gone, replaced by the dark ceiling of the Starlit Hotel. "Lost in another dream…." BHK murmured to himself. He checked the glowing digital clock by his bed. 3:34 a.m.

BHK closed his eyes, and attempted to return to sleep. 15 minutes later, he rose from his bed, restless, and crept out into the hotel's hallway. He passed Yuna's and Kairi's room, and (using their extra card key) eased open the door. Both were sleeping soundlessly. Mostly. (Kairi was snoring.)

He shut their door and made his way outside. Twilight Town was a rather peaceful place, especially at night. BHK felt as if he could see every star in the galaxy from where he stood.

A small distance away, a light shone, obscuring BHK's view. He looked to its source, and he was unsurprised to find out that it was coming from the clocktower. "Since when do clocktowers fill in for a lighthouse?" BHK's feet set off toward it unbidden by his mind. '_Who knows? Maybe now I'll find my answers'_ He quickened his pace.

He reached the tower without trouble, however the front gates were locked. And by the amount of rust and the stiff hinges, BHK suspected it had been locked for some time. "Now what?" '_The wall'_ Said the voice in his head. BHK walked around the perimeter of the clocktower, a stone wall that the gates were connected to.

The grass was overgrown and vines clung to the wall along with some other plant life that BHK could not identify. BHK came to a stop and crouched down. There was a small hole in the wall near the ground, it looked to be just large enough for him. He climbed through.

When he got on the other side, the vegetation intensified. He made his way to the tower doors, which were strangely, unlocked. _'Broken'_ BHK shrugged. He entered, and found a tall winding stairway, leading to the top. Where the light originated. "Let's do it."

* * *

Review 


	35. Ascension

This chapter just wrtoe itself, I couldn't stop it. So here you are.

* * *

BHK reached the top of the stairs. BHK could now see the massive gears of the clocktower turning silently, somehow the only mechanism that still worked. Otherwise, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, and the light was gone. This only made BHK tense. Through his travels, the phrase "Too Quiet" had been proved correct many times over.

A cool night breeze wafted in from an open doorway he hadn't noticed. BHK turned his back on the rotating gears and into the outside. He walked onto a ledge, it was wide enough for two people to walk side by side safely. The ledge surrounded the level of the clock-tower BHK was on, and on one side, a ladder rose to another smaller, more narrow ledge and a locked door.

Both ledges were probably for maintenance, but BHK had used them for something else….He walked to the north face and sat down, allowing his legs to dangle off the edge. He felt the most acute feeling of inner peace he had ever known. The breeze cooled his face, and he laid back, again taken by the clear sky, the stars.

The sky was brightening, the evening was beginning to fade away, and BHK sat in peace, watching the sun rise.

* * *

Sora fell to his butt and looked up angrily at Leon. "You don't have to hit so hard…"He said rubbing his head. "How else are you going to learn?" Leon shot back. "You're hard-headed, so only hard hits will teach you."

Leon pinched the bridge of his nose, as he often did. "I can see what that Diz guy was saying. You still fight like you did two years ago. Actually," he said picking his head up, "You're fighting worse. You even tired me out last time we sparred, but now, nothing. If you fought Ansem again he'd tear you apart."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence" growled Sora. Leon shrugged. "Just trying to help." He said. "Listen Sora, you sealed Kingdom Hearts two years ago, and I admit, you deserved a break, we all did. But obviously while the darkness was sealed, it was still constantly changing, evolving, becoming more vicious, more powerful, trickier, etc. etc.

"A warrior is always prepared for battle, keeping his techniques sharp, their movements fluid, their mind focused, body tense. Alert, and ready for anything. Even in times of peace, one should train for the next war. Though some slack may be accepted, the basic principles still apply."

"Is that how you live your live Leon?" Sora asked. "Always uptight, keeping to yourself, paranoid about the old man down the street? That's not how people should live their lives! I thought that's what we've been fighting for, what **_I've_** been fighting for. To make the world, all the worlds free from a much fear as possible. To make the darkness just that, a small part of the day when people sleep, not some horrible manifestation like it is now. I don't want people to live in constant fear of every shadow they see!"

"Look kid," Leon said firmly. "I agree with you, and I wasn't blaming you before. You were just an inexperienced punk kid two years ago, you don't think like a solider yet, you shouldn't have to. Look at you now, a slightly more experienced punk kid out just to live your life. That's how it should be.

"But its not how the world works. Warriors love peace just like everyone else, _more_ so, the crave it. But we don't fool ourselves. Peace will come and go, and once its gone, we fight for it again. That's why we train, even during the warm summer days when nothing seems wrong. Go ask Cloud, he'll tell you the same thing. Most people don't like it, but fighting is a way of life."

Sora remained silent, slowly turning Leon's words about in his head, but eventually he nodded; accepting what he had said, even if he didn't like it. "Good. Now get up, and show us what you're fighting for."

Sora dragged himself to his feet, thinking of the Destiny Islands, basking in the sun, water lapping at his feet, Tidus, Riku, Kairi, and all the others. This is what he was fighting for.

The Keyblade shone, filling Sora with energy, he'd fight for them. He'd fight until the end. "I'm ready." He said. Leon nodded. "Then prove it."

Sora raised his Keyblade, and Leon rushed, slashing with an old rusted blade he had found, so it wouldn't cut. Sora side-stepped the first attack and countered with a heavy diagonal slash across Leon's back. Leon took the hit and rolled into the ground, not caught off-guard. He returned with a horizontal slash. Sora ducked and parried the following downward slice.

Leon's blade was pushed back, and Sora lunged, throwing his shoulder into the attack. The Keyblade slammed into Leon just blow the rib cage, but Sora dropped and spun 360 degrees slashing the Keyblade behind Leon's knees, landing him on his back. One. Fluid. Motion.

Before Leon could regain his breath and or footing, Sora pinned him with a foot on his chest and pointed the Keyblade at Leon's throat. Then he grinned. "I'm back."

* * *

As the rays of light became strong enough to cast him in a warm glow, BHK sensed a presence behind him. "So you came back." Said a feminine voice. '_the voice from my dream!'_ BHK turned to see the blonde girl looking out towards the horizon, watching the sunrise as he had been. "I knew you would" she said.

"I'm sorry," BHK said shaking his head apologetically, "but I know you?" The girl finally looked at him directly. Her blue eyes were soft and understanding. They reminded him of someone else he knew.

"You don't remember." It wasn't a question. This girl knew. "I could see why, everybody in this town has trouble remembering things. But they do try. But in the end, they can only remember what they love the most, something that they feel so strongly about, the heart alone cannot contain it. It leaves an imprint on the soul."

BHK stood. The girl kept eye contact. "How come you seem to remember things? How do you know so much?" He asked her.

"I'm different from everybody else. Just like you are different….but being different in Twilight Town can put one at risk. Especially your friends." She said, her eyes serious now. "You should not have brought them here. Especially not _her_." BHK raised a questioning eyebrow by the girl's glare cut him short. "Don't act dumb. You know who I mean."

BHK's watch beeped. 7:45 a.m. he had been there for over 4 hours. He looked up at the girl. "I have to go…." He said, even more sorry then he had been. He didn't want to end this conversation.

"It's okay, go to them. Its your duty, and they'll need your protection. You shouldn't be sorry." BHK strode back to the doorway leading to the stairs but paused. "Where can I find you again?" He asked.

"Don't worry" she replied. "I'll find you. Let's just hope you remember more by then." BHK smiled. "I'm remembering things already." He said.

"Like what?" she asked. "Like your name." He said. The watch beeped again. "I'll see you, Namine." She smiled, and BHK began his descent down the stairs.

* * *

Bet you didn't expect that! Haha! Tell me what you think. Review. 


	36. Meeting Nobody

Okay, Chillwilly, you got me. i could have tried to play it off, but you are right, and I am wrong. Moogles it is.

And also, to all. I have started another fanfiction along with continuing this one. i shall work on both at the same time, and in no way is this story over, so don't worry. However, this is my first time running two stories at once, so anyone with helpful tips would be appreciated, but I think I'll do alright.

* * *

"Where've you been?" Kairi asked as BHK walked through the hotel door. "Exploring." BHK replied. He felt no immediate need to relay the conversation with Namine to Kairi. "Well, then I'm ready to check out. I think we should get going."

Beside her, Yuna yawned and stretched. "But why? We just got here." Yuna asked. "It's our turn to do a little exploring. Maybe BHK can take us for a tour." BHK grinned, but in the end declined. "I'm no tour guide." He said.

"Look," Kairi said, dropping her voice down to a whisper, "I'm starting to get a really weird vibe from this place okay? I'd rather we just leave now."

BHK sighed. "Fine, fine. In a few hours okay? Then we'll go. I promise. In the mean time, we have food we have to gather and stock, do a check of the gummi ship…all that jazz. After that, we'll go."

BHK walked up to the front desk and lazily rang the bell. "We're ready to check out!" He called. He leaned against the desk and watched Yuna and Kairi having a discussion about something or another. BHK didn't really care, he'd end up hearing enough of their giggling when they were back in space anyway.

He impatiently rang the bell again. _'What could be taking these people so long?'_ He wondered, becoming bored. _'Whatever happened to customer _service_?'_ "You know what, let's just go." He finally decided. "We'll pay them on the way back. Go grab your stuff, we'll stow it in the Gummi Ship."

When they walked out, Yuna and Kairi were still talking amongst themselves. "BHK" said Yuna, drawing him into the conversation like he knew they would. "We think that the Gummi Ship should have a name."

"You mean the computer should have a name."

"So….?"

BHK rolled his eyes. "Look the computer is not a person, giving it a name won't change anything. In fact, it'll only encourage it. But…if I say fine, would you lay off my back?" Yuna and Kairi nodded vigorously. BHK sighed again. "Fine then. What did you have in mind?"

"Well, Yuna here," Kairi said, "wanted it to be Morgan. But _I _think it should be Sarah."

BHK kept walking. "They're both stupid. But I don't really care that much anyway." He paused to think. Trying to ignore the buzzing in the back of his head. "How 'bout Anna-belle?" Kairi and Yuna stared at him. "What? I like that name!"

Yuna started giggling, but Kairi came up with the solution. "Sarah Anna-belle Morgan."

"Oh God…. You gave it a full name?"

"Why not?" Kairi asked. "I like it" Yuna seconded. BHK shook his head. "Fine whatever. But I'm not giving her the name."

BHK quietly scanned the area as they continued their walk. Something was nagging him, telling him that something was wrong. Then it finally hit him, _'There are no people out here.'_ BHK checked his watch. 8:05. _'No pedestrians, no bikes, no cars…. Nobody.'_

"…." BHK pressed the Gummi signal on his watch. "Computer, fly by for pick-up. We're ready to go." There was no reply. "Computer, acknowledge command." Still nothing. "Computer, status report."

There was static, which was strange as it was a direct link to the onboard computer, but the computer's voice finally reached him. "Sorry, boss. No-can-do…."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!" BHK yelled back. "There was an attack while I was in shut-down. Originally seemed to be a group of kids, all in costume, but they used razor-sharp weapons, cut deep into the hull, damaged the engine. Currently in recovery. 65 complete."

"Damn!" BHK cursed under his breath. Whatever Namine had warned him of was obviously getting closer. He looked to Kairi and Yuna. "We need to get off the streets. I don't think its safe here anymore."

"Too right you are, Dual-wielder." The three looked up to see Axel striding toward them. BHK instinctively summoned Oathkeeper and Oblivion. "What? You lookin' for seconds?" BHK asked.

"Me?" Axel asked, touching his chest, "I came to watch the show." BHK was about to ask the obvious question, but Yuna beat him to it. "What show?" BHK suddenly scanned the area. He sensed something, movement, driven by ill-will.

"The chase and inevitable death, of the Dual-Wielder, the summoner, and the Princess." The unseen creatures were beginning to surround them. BHK sheathed the Keyblades and grabbed the girls by the hands. "Run!"

BHK sprinted off, still holding tightly to the girls, who had a little trouble keeping up. Axel's cackling followed them down the streets. "Run, run! Give me a good chase!" From out of the shadows leapt one of the things he had sensed. They skidded to a halt. The creature was sheet-white, with a strange symbol on its head which resembled a cross.

Its arms and legs ended in points, and its mouth was filled with small, jagged teeth. The creature screeched and ran at them. BHK shoved the girls behind him, then swinging his arms back, summoned his Keyblades he smashed the creature with Oblivion, which sent it bouncing along the street and into a wall.

BHK knew well that most Heartless would have been obliterated by a blow like that. But there was no denying the fact that this creature was already back on its feet, and merely shook itself as if the blow had meant nothing.

"Kairi, Yuna. We are heading for the clock-tower. No matter what happens to me, don't stop. Got it?" BHK told them quietly.

"But-"

"But, nothing. Just go on my mark. 1-2" The creature screeched again, and leapt at BHK. "3!" Yuna and Kairi ran off down a shortcut that would take them through the Town Square. BHK rolled under the white thing and ended in a crouched position. "Thunder!"

A bolt of lightning came down from the clear skies and blasted the….thing. It turned black and faded away, spreading Munny balls as it went. BHK sprinted after the girls. It didn't take him long to catch up.

They were pinned down by three more of the white creatures. "Thunder!" BHK shouted. Another bolt hit a creature, the electricity seemed to lock up its joints so it fell back, but did not fry like the other one did. BHK supposed that first blow had in fact done some damage, even though it hadn't looked like it.

The other two were still approaching. They were fenced in. Two in front, and BHK could hear more coming from behind, a wall on the left and a gate connected to a two-story high fence to the right. Axel walked behind the two approaching and the shocked one was beginning to rise.

"We call them the Flailers. They are equivalent to the Shadow and soldier heartless." BHK understood these terms when comparing the creatures, the Flailers, to heartless. Shadows and solidiers were basically the grunt work for the Heartless. But if these Flailers were the grunts, he'd hate to see the more powerful versions.

"Oh don't worry about it though, the Neo's don't vary much, un-like the Heartless." Axel told him as though reading his mind. "But they are still more than enough to handle you."

BHK grinned, hiding his worry behind a reckless mask. "Alrighty," He said, twirling his blades, "let's rock then!" But at that moment, the gate next to him burst open, and Namine was motioning for them to go through. "Hurry! This way!" BHK pushed Kairi and Yuna through, before rushing through the gate himself. Namine closed and locked it, and together they set off at a quick jog to the clocktower.

Axel looked bored. "Enough, kill them." He ordered. BHK looked over his shoulder to see the Flailers following after them. Most of the creatures had simply leapt over the tall gate, extending their legs so much they could practically step over it.

"Faster, guys, faster!" BHK stressed. They zigzagged through a collection of back-alleys and cobblestone roads, the Neo's (as Axel had called them) were right on their tail.

Eventually, they reached the clock-tower, and BHK moved to a defensive stance, readying himself to fight of the Neo's as the other three made it under the hole in the wall.

As Kairi was halfway through, following Namine, the Flailers were upon them. BHK could feel his magic slipping away from him again, leaving him with only the Keyblade strikes as defense.

BHK ducked under the first attack aimed for him; a piercing stab from one of the Flailers. He knocked that one away with the Oblivion, at the same time, parrying with Oathkeeper. A few attacks broke through his defense, one grazed against his forearm, another tore at his leg, missing a major blow to flesh, but ripping his left pant leg.

Yuna's head and shoulders were through, just a few seconds more, and he could rejoin the group. "Aagh!" One of those needle-point "hands" of theirs had pierced through his shoulder.

Yuna was through! Quickly losing strength in the one arm, BHK summoned what was left of his energy and bellowed, "AERO!" A heavy wind wrapped around him as he dove under the hole in the wall, protecting him from more damage. After he got through, he saw Namine already leading Yuna and Kairi through the clock-tower.

BHK forced himself up, and ran after them, knowing that in a moment, the Neo's would be leaping over that wall. They entered the clock-tower and rushed up the stairs, the Flailers not far behind.

They made it to the door at the top of the stairs, pushed it open, and slammed it shut when everyone was on the other side. "Quickly!" Namine shouted to BHK, "bar the door with the Keyblade!" BHK hadn't noticed the old locking method of bar through the handle before, but now he shoved the Keyblades through it just as there was an answering slam from the inside of the tower.

Panting, BHK slid down the door, eye closed, his shoulder throbbing. He scrunched up his face in pain, and groaned as a particular sharp jolt ran through his arm. _'Why oh why is it always my damn shoulder!'_ He asked himself bitterly.

He felt a tug on his torn pant leg, and heard a long ripping sound. He slid open an eye and saw Yuna tying the strips of his former pant leg around his wounded shoulder. His leg tingled. From the knee down, it was bare, and it was getting chilly at that altitude.

"There," Yuna said, finished with her work, "That should keep pressure on it for now to slow the bleeding." BHK glanced again at his shoulder. Indeed, that area of his shirt was soaked in blood. "Where'd you learn how to do that?" BHK asked.

"I used to be the Healer in my village." Yuna said, "I bet they miss me now…." BHK didn't like the way that conversation would follow so he gratefully thanked her and turned to Namine.

"Those…things were moving for us even before Axel showed up." BHK pointed out to her. "Why?"

"Because, they want what you have so much of." She said. "The people of this town are illusions, and desperately live a shadow of their former lives. They are driven by their memories of life, for that is what they wish to have."

"I don't understand"

"Maybe this can explain better than I can." Namine walked over to him and passed him a paper. Yuna and Kairi read over his shoulder. It was the 13th page of Ansem's report.

* * *

Review 


	37. Remembrence

Mikol, slplesswitch, stop it! You're making me blush..!XD WOOO! I am so charged right now, and I've no idea why. Butseriously, thanks you guys. But one question; what is a fake cyoa?

And, who else likes that new Kelly Clarkson song? Behind Hazel Eyes…? Something like that…. Whatever. She can still sing. And she's hot... Woah! I was gone for a moment there. Let's get back into it! Chapter 37! Enjoy.

* * *

_When the heart casts off the flesh, where does the body go? Heart and soul are separate, and the spirit remains in the body. But can we assume that the leftover body and soul perish?_

_Certainly when the heart changes into a Heartless the body disappears. _

_However, that is only this world's story; in another world, mightn't they change forms like the Heartless and exist there?_

_If we take that to be the case, there must be a you other than yourself existing somewhere. An existence of neither darkness nor of light. _

_An in-between existence. Cast off by the heart, a mere shell, one who begrudges bothe the darkness and the light. _

_This mystery cannot be easily resolved. The relationship between the heart and the flesh is a complex one. _

_But since we exist here, they cannot be termed as existent. Therefore I shall call them…_

"_The non-existent ones"_

Report page #13.

Ansem

* * *

"That is the final known page of Ansem's report." Namine told them. "This place you've discovered is part of the world of the non-existent, the world Ansem mentioned in that report."

BHK looked up. "This still doesn't answer why they want us so badly. Tell us. Everything you know."

"Well, as I said, the people of this town forget things rather easily, and can only remember what was dearest to them, or at least when they were still part of a human. These people put up an illusion to keep themselves together, because all they really want is to live. So, they build their little shops, and pretend to go about their daily routines using their remaining memories of what life was like. A grim, everlasting mockery."

"The Neo's want your hearts." Namine finally said. "Though not as fuel, like the heartless. Within the heart, memories and emotion dwell. After seizing a heart, they devour its memories and it keeps them satisfied."

BHK suddenly grew suspicious. "Why aren't you acting like them then? Don't you live in this place?"

"I'm different than them. I've told you this already."

"Different how?" Yuna asked.

"I used to work for the Organization, before Sora and Riku set me free."

There was a stunned silence in the aftermath of these words. Yuna and Kairi were now staring at Namine with a mixture of shock, and the suspicion. But BHK was already forming his next question in his mind.

"I'm like them aren't I? Why haven't I turned yet?" He asked her quietly, assuming the worst. But Namine was shaking her head. "You, BHK, are of a different breed altogether. The one of two people, and a kind all to yourselves."

"?"

"You are an imperfect shell, split from yourself, when darkness claimed you as its own. However, your original self was somehow restored, and therefore your transformation was not given enough time to complete itself." The door behind BHK gave a particularly large heave from within, making Kairi flinch; she had thought the Flailers had given up. "To put it simply, you represent half of your original form."

"You said two of a kind?"

"Yes," Namine said. "The only other person to come close to this was Ansem himself. Somehow, he kept his mind, and memories even after becoming a Heartless. And you, having a piece of your heart still within you, you are both two exceptions to the rule."

A thought struck BHK. "When you say 'two' you actually mean Ansem, me, and my half don't you?" Namine nodded. "Hmm. I see. One final question, Namine. Who is this half you keep referring to?"

Namine smiled. "Don't you ever wonder why you feel so strongly about finding the Keyblade Master? You vaguely know the answer, protecting the Princess without truly knowing, or remembering why. Very well, I shall help you remember."

Namine walked over to him, while Yuna and Kairi looked on with unplaceable expressions on their faces. Confusion? Interest? ….Fear? "Close your eyes, and it'll help if you're relaxed." Namine ordered. "Your answers lie in your memories. Along with your purpose. And your power."

Namine placed her hands on either side of his head. He closed his eyes, but continued to see the edge of the clocktower. He looked around, but Kairi, Yuna, and Namine had all disappeared.

Hearing soft footsteps, he turned and saw a kid with spiky blonde hair and clear blue eyes running his hand across the clocktower wall. _'Me'_ The other BHK turned, and spoke with Namine's voice.

"We are about to dive into your memory. While inside, you won't be able to remember much about the present. You'll feel, say, and act exactly as you did in the past. We may pause at parts, though, and you'll regain yourself. Remember, we don't have much time here, BHK. We may have to skip ahead now and then." BHK nodded his confirmation.

"Let's do this."

* * *

_Darkness, everlasting and everywhere. No light, no sound. No smells or feeling. And then-_

"Hey look! It's a BHK!" _The voice was distant, barely audible over the blaring silence._

(sigh) "Are you ever going to let that joke go? Its old now. Its done. Just leave it alone!"

"Is he dead?"

"I don't know, why don't you poke him and see?

"No way!"

"Guys shut up! I think he's alive. He's breathing." _A moment's pause._ "And I can hear a heartbeat." _The voices were becoming clearer now…_

"He's warm."

"He is?"

"That's weird. Almost everybody else here is cold. Wonder where he's from?"

"Doesn't matter does it? He's here now, and nobody ever remembers about where they were before."

"Ssshh! He's coming around."

The darkness was beginning to fade, and feeling spread through his body. His eyes creaked open and a flood of light and color forced them shut again. Blinking slowly, the boy sat up. He viewed three kids staring at him, one girl, two boys, the tallest boy was green-haired. The others were both brown-haired, and both males were dressed (the boy suddenly felt) rather strangely.

"Hi there, stranger!" The girl spoke first, smiling. "You remember anything?" He didn't respond verbally, but shook his head instead. The boy flanking the girl's left spoke up next. "You got a name?"

"Aros." He felt himself reply. "Yep." Said the brown-haired boy. "Maybe you just imagined heat, Verde. From what _I_ see, he's just like all the others. Right down to the name."

The girl walked up to him. "Don't mind those two, they're always like this when a newbie shows up. What my friend means, is that all newcomers show up, and usually, all they can remember is their name. And each time, it's a weird one."

"A stupid one." The brown-haired boy corrected. The green-hair punched the other boy in the arm. "Don't be rude." He muttered. The girl paid them no mind. "I'm Rinoa." She continued. "He's Verde," she said jerking her head toward the green. "And he's Zach." She said, indicating the other.

"No its not!" Zach complained loudly. "Don't you remember? I changed my nickname!" Verde snorted. "Yeah, to Slice or something stupid like that." Zach glared at him.

Verde turned to Rinoa. "I suppose we should take him to Namine?" A grin crept its way across Rinoa's face. "You mean it Verde?" The green-haired boy shrugged. "C'mon, _Aros_. You're coming with us."

Aros shrugged, then stood up. Verde led the way down the green hill, and into Twilight Town.

* * *

I know, most of you will be thinking…_Aros? WTF!_ But, I'm going somewhere with this….That is, if all turns out well enough…Just, trust me.

Oh, and Chillywilly, want to know a secret? I don't even have a Gameboy Advanced! But I knew that I had to know as much about CoM as possible to make this fic so I went to Gamefaqs and read the game script. Repeatedly. And almost everything else about CoM too. I am so pissed off! It seemed like a really great game…. Damn!

Review guys!


	38. BHK's Past pt1

Okay. Er...this chapter deals with a lot of time-changes and to help you cope, for tis chapter (and maybe the next) The solid border line means place to place, past to present, present to past. Sounds confusing I know, but I'm sure you can handle it.

For time skips while in the past I'll do...this: --Break-- Allrighty. Sorry about this.

And also!

To Chillywilly: Its usually the eye that gets me whenever it feels like twitching.

Mikol: ...Ssshhh!

Aramer: Damn! And I thought I was being so clever with that name...

* * *

Leon walked several paces away from the teenager he was training. "This will be a reflexive exercise!" He called from across the room. "Merlin has given me control over some of his things, and I'll be hurling them at you from all angles." 

Sora nodded. "No problem! Bring it on!" Leon laughed. "You haven't even heard what makes this fun!" Leon said, giving Sora a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. "You'll be doing this exercise…blindfolded."

"What! How am I supposed to hit anything if I can't see it!" Sora asked, confused. "You must be losing it to think that I can do that!" Leon frowned. "No, Sora. You must be out of your mind to believe that you _can't._" Leon gestured at his feet. "Put the blindfold on, and let us se what you can do."

Scowling, Sora reached down and picked up the cloth at his feet. He tied it tightly behind his head, feeling a slight pressure on his eyes. The folded material let no light shine through at all. Even when Sora lifted it so his eyes would have met the edge, still darkness.

"What the-?" He heard himself say. He could hear Leon laughing loudly ahead of him. "That comes straight from Merlin. There won't be any cheating in this exercise. The only time you'll be able to see again is when you untie it from the back, and you'll have no time to do that my friend."

Despite Leon's words, Sora tugged savagely at the material, but to no avail. The blindfold refuse to go any higher than his eyebrows, nor any lower than the bridge of his nose.

He gave up, allowing the darkness to keep his eyes unaware. He closed them, feeling it useless to strain them for nothing.

**_THWACK!_**

Something crashed into the back of Sora's head, forcing him to his knees in pain. "#!$#$&(!(!$&$)!" Sora saw spots of light flare and die before his closed eyes. "WHY THE HECK DID YOU DO THAT! I WASN"T EVEN READY!" Sora bellowed in anger. His words seemed to be absorbed into the darkness.

Leon was laughing harder than ever now. "Well, Sora, you never know when the heartless are going to attack. That, plus, now you know what happens when you get hit in this training. If you don't want it to happen again, then do not get hit."

Sora muttered empty threats under his breath as he stood up. "Ready?" Leon called. "As I'll ever be" came the grudging reply.

Sora strained all of his remaining senses, thoug he doubted taste would help much, or touch considering you had to be up close for them. Sora tried to stop breathing so loudly, he thought he had heard something move….

He raised his Keyblade, and something rammed into him from the side, bowling him over. From the way he was hurting when he stood up next, it seemed to had been a table.

"This is impossible!" Sora yelled into the darkness. "Try harder then!" Yuffie shouted from somewhere behind him. Apparently, she had stopped in to watch. Sora heard the tinkling of china somewhere close to him.

He dropped low, and felt a rush of wind breeze through his hair, what ever it was had just missed. Sora heard it come back for another run, and raised his Keyblade. In one slash, heshattered the oncomingteapot.

"I Did IT! I-AARRGH!" Sora roared as another table smashed into him, knocking him to his back. He could hear Yuffie cracking up. "Stand up, Sora" Leon told him. "We haven't even reached the hard part yet."

* * *

Meanwhile, back in Twilight Town, Aros was walking close behing Rinoa, as Verde led them all through a maze of twisting streets and corners. Aros didn't mind, he barely cared about anything at all. 

Eventually they came to an old worn-down shack. Tiles were missing from its roof, the door hinges were rusted over, and vines covered almost every inch. "Inside. come on." Verde ordered, and he slowly forced the creaking door open.

The inside was dusty, yet strangely comfortable. Benches and chairs had been scattered around the room and in the front of them all, a blonde girl was silently reading a book. As soon as Aros entered, she looked up from her reading.

"Who's this?" she asked, looking at Aros with mild interest. Rinoa beamed. "New guy, found him on the hill outside of town." She told her. Verde snapped a finger near Aros' ear. Aros caught himself staring, and then his body and mind seemed to thaw. In a few moments, Aros looked around the room with renewed wonder.

His eyes were completely clear now, it was like finally awakening from a long slumber. The girl raised her eyebrows at him as if she had noticed this, but didn't say anything.

Aros looked at them all with curiousity. "Who are you?" Aros asked the blonde. Verde, however, answered the question. "Her name's Namine," he whispered in Aros' ear. "She's going to be giving you your test."

Aros' looked skeptical. "What test? And why are you whispering so much? What's with the secrecy?"

"Looks like we've got a live one!" Zach exclaimed. "Oooooo. I bet you're going to be fun."

"We are the Children of Twilight." Verde told him, waving toward his three other friends. "We are the best club in Twilight Town."

"Gang is a better word," Zach said from the sidelines. "We don't really do any 'club' stuff."

Verde ignored him. "For short, we are the Cots!" Aros snorted, and they all looked at him. "What?" Verde asked him.

Aros was trying desperately not to laugh. "It's…nothing. That's just a really stupid name." He blurted. Rinoa and Zach laughed, Verde looked offended and he quickly looked to Namine, who had herself managed a smile.

"Sorry," Aros said, calming down. Namine smile grew. "He's in." She said. Verde's jaw dropped. "What! He didn't even take his test!" Namine shrugged. "Take that as his test. He had to tell us what he thought of our name, and he passed."

Verde crossed his arms, but said "Fine then. You're in." Aros smiled, but didn't exactly know what "being in" meant. "Alright!" Zach yelled, clapping his hands. "Pick your name."

Aros looked at him blankly. "What?"

"All newcomers pick a new nickname when they join, since most of the time, their real names are stupid. So, what's your's going to be?"

Aros shrugged, he didn't tell anyone, but he rater liked his real name. "Well then, I hereby dub you…" Rinoa said, pausing for thought. But hen her eyes lit up as she came to the conclusion. "BHK!"Behind her,Zach groaned.

Aros thought about it, then decided he liked BHK as well. "What does it mean?" he asked. Rinoa laughed while Zach and Verde's frowns deepened. "It's a long story," Rinoa said, "but I'll tell you a secret about your real name if you're good!"

"It's a deal. BHK it is." BHK said happily. Rinoa and Zach went back out through the door, motioning for BHK to come. "Here, let us show you around." Zach told him. BHK looked behind them, Verde had stayed with Namine.

"You know, you are really special." Rinoa began. "You are the first recruit we've had in a long time. Verde and Namine started the 'club'. Zach came next, and I was the most recent before you. I've been with them for about two years now."

"3 years for me." Zach told him. "Verde usually picks the new potentials, then Namine gives them a test. If they pass, then they can join and get their new name." BHK didn't quite know how to respond to this, so he didn't.

* * *

Kairi and Yuna watched with a slightly worried look on their faces as BHK was pulled back into the present. He shook his and rolled his neck. "Well, that explains how I got this name….Though to tell you the truth, its stupider than my real one." 

Kairi and Yuna were lost, but Namine gave her normal smile. "You want a break, or are you ready for another go?"

"That wasn't so bad, I want to see what I can dig up next. Have another go." Namines hands returned to their previous postion, and BHK was flung through a white fog.

* * *

They were back in the old shack. Namine was reading, Verde seemed to be just _watching_ her, Zach and Rinoa were playing Blackjack, and BHK was loung simply lounging around, looking through the holes in the celing at the clear blue sky. A shadow passed over him; Verde had come over. 

"You never really had a test, you know." He said. BhK sighed. "Are you still bringin' that up, Verde? Namine said I could stay."

"Well I don't. I'll only really believe you're a member when you pass your test." Zach and Rinoa were listening in, althoughthey were still pretending to play their game. It was rather obvious that they couldn't do two things at once.

"Should I bother asking what this test would be?" Verde quickly looked around the room, thinking about something hard to give BHK.

A shingle fell from the roof and clattered onto the floor. At first, nobody except for BHK seemed to notice, but then Verde snapped his fingers. "I've got it. You are hereby charged with finding us a new hangout place."

BHK pondered whether he would accept this or not, he didn't really care if Verde acknowledged him, everyone else did. But, he sat up anyway. It sounded like fun. "Do I get help?"

"Normally no. But since you don't know your way around, Rinoa or Zach could show you if they wanted to. But only you can find the next place." Verde told him.

"Fine." BHK said standing up. "I accept." Verde stretched out his hand. "Give me your key" he said. BHK gave Verde his key to the shack.

"You won't get this back until you've found us a new place." Verde told him.

"But if I find a new place, will it even matter?"

Verde didn't say anything, so BHK (laughing at the look on Verde's face) walked out of the shack and set out to find a new hangout. He heard the door slam againbehind him, and Zach and Rinoa took up his pace on either side.

"So? Where to?"

Zach and Rinoa spent the next hour and a half showing BHK the major sights of Twilight Town, though none of it seemed to be any good for a hideaway. Finally, a tall building caught his eye and he moved toward it to inspect it. Zach and Rinoa stayed a few yards behind him.

"You shouldn't go near that place." Zach told him. "Most people think its haunted." BHK was busy running his finger along the outer wall of the clock-tower. "Why?" He asked.

"Well for one, nobody takes care of it anymore, but the hands still move."

BHK shrugged. "Did you ever think its just good engineering?"

"..Er…uh….."

"That's beside the point!" Rinoa yelled. "Nobody ever goes in that place! Its haunted!" BHK found a large hole near the ground. "Sounds perfect." He said, already halfway through. He turned back to look at them. "You coming?" Zach and Rinoa looked at each other, before finally deciding to follow.

BHK was already inside when they got through. He laughed at the sight of them. Rinoa was visibly shaking, and Zach's eyes kept darting all over the place as if he expected some sort of spirit to leap out of the walls and grab him.

BHK stepped onto the first stair, and Rinoa jumped when it groaned under his weight. BHK laughed again and made his way up stairs. A few minutes later, he came to a door. He pulled at the latch, but it wouldn't open.

"What's wrong?" Rinoa asked as they appeared.

"The door's jammed. It-won't-open!" BHK grunted as he pushed heavily.

"Well then!" Rinoa said (with joy) "That means, we should probably go!" BHK's shoulders dropped. "Yeah…let's go." Rinoa and Zach started back down the stairs, but BHK decided to give the door one last try. This time, he slammed his entire body into it. The door flung open, and BHK was greeted by the endless sky.

"Wooww…" Rinoa and Zach said, joining him. "Guys, I think we've found our new hang." BHK declared proudly.

Later, when Namine and Verde had been brought along, BHK found a door at the top of a ladder, and a higher ledge. It was locked.

Break--

Verde and BHK were sparring again. Rinoa and Zach were watching, but Namine wasn't anywhere to be seen. Verde was using a long staff for his weapon of choice, but BHK placed his faith in the swords. And though he was good with one, he excelled at the double-blades.

Verde swung a low sweeping blow, BHK hopped over it, then charged toward Verde before he could get his weapon into a defensive stance. Verde brought his staff up just at the last second, forcing BHK to perform a limbo-like slide to avoid being smacked in the face.

But he was close now. With every step BHK made toward Verde, the use of the staff diminished. That may be why BHK preferred the swords. Though they were close-range fighting tools, it all came down to skill in the end. The better fighter wins. But with a staff or a spear, if your opponent is quick enough-!

BHK spun and side-stepped away from the next blow, and rushed again. He was in! BHK brought up his twin wooden swords. Verde aimed a kick at him, but missed as BHK ducked under it.

He smacked the flat of one blade into Verde's stomach, and made the other blade an inch away from Verde's face. "I win." BHK said.

"You draw." Verde said. BHK's eyes widened as he felt something scrape against his abdomen. Verde was holding a long wooden dagger in a free hand. "Cheater" BHK said.

"So?"

BHK backed off, and placed his swords on the wall, and Verde mounted his staff, but kept the wooden dagger in his back pocket. In all the times BHK and Verde had sparred, not once had their been a decisive victory for either of them.

Truth told, BHK never really tried his best, but Verde only held back enough to make it seem as if they were just playing, like Rinoa and Zach thought. But when they sparred, BHK could often see a fire in Verde's eyes. Something lurked behind Verde's eyes that was frightening. Even to BHK.

Break--

It didn't take long for BHK to figure out that there was a chain of romance that had been formed inside the Cots. It was obvious really. Zach liked Rinoa, Rinoa unfortunately liked Verde, who liked Namine, who in turn seemed not to show any interest at all.

But Verde didn't seem to notice, or did he? Either way, BHK would often catch him sitting down doing nothing except stare at her slyly when she wasn't looking. BHK wasn't quite sure what he felt about any of them, but he wouldn't mind if Namine….

Yet on the flip side, he wasn't obsessed. Just like Rinoa and Zach weren't about their catches. So subtle were they in showing their signs of affection that their finds didn't even notice. Only BHK, (who did nothing but lounge around and observe these type of things,) happily followed the flow of it all.

But the tide shifted during one moonlit night. BHK was wandering aimlessly through the streets, none of the children in Twilight Town had parents, so what the leaders did to deal with the problem was set up large foster homes all over the city until the young grew old enough to work. BHK couldn't stand the places, and spent more time on top of the clock-tower then anyplace else.

BHK picked up the sound of crying, and changed his course to find the source. (AN: Hey! That rhymed!) After a minute or so of walking, he entered the town square. In the moonlight, BHK could make out the form of a girl his height softly sobbing.

"What's wrong, Namine?" BHK asked with concern. This was the first time he had seen anyone of his friends cry; it was unsettling for him. "What are you crying about?"

Namine quickly brushed at her eyes before turning to face him. "Its nothing, don't worry about it." She said, putting on a false smile. BHK frowned. "Don't bother, Namine you can't fool me."

"I know…" Namine told him. "But you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

BHK shrugged. "It's good to try though, right?"

"I was crying…for the people of this world. They are so unhappy. It hurts to see them live like they do."

"Well that's stupid." BHK stated matter-of-factly. Namine looked up in surprise. "If they are so miserable, then they don't show it very well. And you feeling miserable about their misery doesn't help anything. If you really wanted to help them, then set an example, and show them what happiness is."

Namine gave a small laugh. "That almost made sense, for you anyway."

"What does that mean?" BHK asked, acting offended.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Namine started smiling despite herself.

"There you go!" BHK shouted into the night. "That's a new standard for everyone to meet. A real smile, once a day."

Namine shook her head, her smile widening. "You've always been able to cheer me up, Aros."

BHK grinned back. "That's my job. Its what I do best…." His voice trailed off as he saw Namine leaning towards him, eyes half-closed. He felt himself start to lean too. Closer…closer….then his thoughts evaporated into the night sky.

* * *

When BHK woke up in the present, he still couldn't form thoughts, or words to express what he was feeling. All he did was pull Namine into a tight embrace while she whispered softly in his ear; "Welcome back"

* * *

I seriouly tried to wrap it up this chapter, but it ended up too long. This part will all be completed by the end of next chapter. So...yeah.

Review.


	39. BHK's Past pt2

This chapter is twice as long as any normal chapter. I just had to finish it this time.

* * *

After their 're-reunion' Namine had sent him back to complete his journey.

BHK's paradise lasted a year. He had great friends, a girlfriend among them (BHK smiled to himself), and he was free! So amazingly free, to do what he wanted, when he wanted. Twilight Town belonged to the Cots. It belonged to _him_. It was his; he doubted that anybody knew the town's streets better than him. And there seemed to be a new place to explore each day.

He should have known it never could have lasted. After a year, BHK's paradise was shattered, but it all started on a day like all others. BHK was napping on the clocktower's ledge.

"There you are, I knew I'd find you dozing up here, Aros." BHK smiled at Namine's voice, but stayed in his relaxed position, not even opening his eyes. "Why do you keep on calling me that, Namine? Everyone else calls me BHK."

"Well, I'm not everyone else, _Aros_" She said putting a deliberate stress on the name. BHK could here her sit down beside him, and he finally opened his eyes. She wasn't looking at him, but at the horizon. He couldn't help thinking how beautiful she could be. But, perhaps that was just his pride showing off. His smile grew. He was lucky to have Namine.

"Besides, I think knowing your true name is important. Rinoa never told you her 'secret of the names' has she?" BHK shook his head. "Well, she says it because she thinks its clever, but it actually makes a lot of sense. I've put together a theory-" Namine broke off as the sound of laughter reached their ears.

Verde was the first one through the stairway door. He saw Namine and BHK sitting together, and a flash of unknown emotion crossed his face. BHK didn't know if Namine had noticed it, but he had. And he also wasn't sure what Verde was feeling, but BHK did know that the smile that just fixed itself on Verde's face was forced.

"I know, right! And when she said that I was just-! Oh-My-God! You know?" It was Rinoa, obviously talking to Zach. BHK could hear him laughing.

Namine gave BHK a look that told him that they'd finish their conversation later, then they went to join their friends. BHK and Zach asked the same question when they all met.

"So, what adventure are we on today?"

* * *

They decided on Hide n' Seek. It was a childish game, they knew, but they enjoyed it. It was especially fun when an entire city was at your hiding disposal. At, least, up to a point. They didn't want to lose everybody for hours at a time. So as a fail-safe, they all carried walkie-talkies to announce game-over, and cut up the city into Regions. BHK knew the Regions like the back of his hand.

As usual, BHK somehow wound up "IT" again. "IT" seemed to happen to him every time. There was the constant thought lurking in the back of his mind: _'They have _so_ rigged the rock-paper-scissors…._'

He found Zach after 15 minutes worth of searching. BHK laughed silently. Though Zach was generally a smart kid, he picked the exact same spot every time. He didn't have much common sense.

"So, where do you think the others are?" BHK asked him, as they searched for another of their group. (It was an added rule. All captured players had to assist "IT")

"No idea. I know Namine's in Region 1, but Verde and Rinoa could be anywhere."

"Let's go then." They set off to find Namine, and as they walked, Zach brought up another topic for conversation's sake. "So did you hear about all these strange disappearances lately?"

BHK, who never paid any mind to the news, had not heard of any such thing. "Yeah." Zach continued, "A whole lot of people started just disappearing, supposedly right from out of their homes. The police don't know what the heck is going on. Baffled, the news guy said."

"Baffled huh? That's interesting" BHK said, uniterested at all in the conversation. It didn't take long to find Namine after that. She was sitting high up in a tree, keeping a lookout for "IT", but mostly looking out at the sky. As usual.

She jumped down, and was caught by the boys. "Well, Namine that wasn't so hard." Zach said happily. But Namine had suddenly gone very pale. "What's wrong?" BHK asked, concerned. When she wouldn't answer, he followed her gaze. Three tall men in long, black cloaks were standing atop a building not far away. Their hoods were up, but BHK felt that they were looking towards them.

Then, the men faded away into nothing, and BHK blinked vigorously, unsure if they were really there or not. He looked back at Namine; she was already looking better. Color had returned to her face. "What just happened Namine?" BHK asked firmly.

Namine just gave a quick laugh. "Nothing, Aros. Nothing at all. I just don't feel like playing much anymore."

* * *

Next day. The day of reckoning. The day when everything would fall apart.

BHK and co. were gathered around a t.v. they had found, fixed, and set up inside the clocktower. They were watching a news report, more disappearances. Now, BHK was finally starting to pay attention. He had to admit, it was weird.

"…On a different subject, an unknown anomaly is occurring in space as we speak. Stay tuned, to find out how many scientists believe it to be a rip in the space-time continuum…."

"Right…." BHK said, getting up and stretching, "though I'm sure listening to another half-baked crackpot scientist will be very captivating, I'm going for a stroll outside. I'll see you guys later."

BHK walked out into the streets, chuckling lightly to himself. "Space-time continuum? Whatever, man. As if that means anything…."

BHK glimpsed a brown-haired boy turning a corner. "Zach! Hey! Zach!" BHK jogged after him, and rounded the corner. Zach was nowhere to be seen. BHK stopped and scratched the back of his head. "Well, that _is_ a bit odd."

BHK turned around, and stumbled back as he saw a strange looking white creature staring at him. At least, BHK _thought_ it was staring; it had no eyes. As soon as BHK regained his footing, it bolted. "Stop!" BHK yelled, before tearing after it.

The streets he passed were a blur as he struggled to keep up. The little thing was fast, and it was cheating, it was running along the walls. For some reason, BHK didn't seem to notice this fact, but he did stop after the creature had let out a shriek, and then disappeared by morphing through a wall. "That's a neat trick." BHK said in awe.

"BHK!" he turned. It was Rinoa. "Run!" BHK looked around, confused, and then saw three more white creatures behind him. Rinoa was already gone. BHK decided to take her advice as the creatures began to shriek.

BHK dashed back the way he came, heading for the clock-tower. The white creatures were right behind him, but as he neared the tower, he saw Rinoa disappear under the hole in the wall. BHK pumped his legs as fast as he could, then dove through as well.

When he stood up, he could hear scratching and shrieking behind the wall. The creatures didn't seem to be able to get in. He realized that his head hurt. He had dived pretty roughly.

"Rinoa?" he said looking around. She was sitting on the stairs, crying. "What's going on?" He demanded. She looked up, fear in her eyes. "I can hear them, I can understand their cries…."

BHK tried to ignore the fact that this was all freaking him out. "Hear who? Them? Those things outside?" BHK asked, pointing.

Rinoa nodded. BHK moved closer to her, to try and comfort. "Stay away!" She screamed. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Me? Why would you hurt me, Rinoa? C'mon, just calm down. I'm sure there's a good explanation for this."

"No…no, no, no… They've come for _you_, BHK. And…."

"And WHAT?" BHK was getting angry now, this had to be some joke, and he was getting tired of all the surprises.

"..and Namine."

BHK's blood ran cold. Before he knew it, he was already rushing up the stairs. Rinoa was calling after him; "Hurrry! Run BHK!"

He burst through the door at the top of the stairs, almost running off of the ledge. "Namine?" He called, checking every place he could think of, "Namine!" He found her, staring out at the setting sun.

"They've finally come." She said, as he approached. "I knew they would."

"Namine, please. Why do I feel like I'm the only one who hasn't got a clue here! What am I missing. Please, tell me what's going on!" BHK pleaded. "Where is everyone? Where's Zach? Verde?"

Namine shook her head. "Zach is gone. Lost to the Unknown." Her eyes were glazed over, giving her a look that she was far away, as if she had gone somewhere, and simply left her body behind.

BHK grabbed her firmly by the shoulders and shook her hard. "Namine! Wake UP!" He shouted. She blinked and seemed to come to her senses. "Aros! You shouldn't be here. You should have run when you had the chance!"

"Rinoa told me they were after you. How could I run? Especially since I don't know what I'm running from!"

" I would have been fine, Aros. Why don't you understand? You had to save yourself." But BHK didn't hear these last words. He had noticed something…."The door…! At the top of the ladder! It's open!"

And Verde was holding the lock in his hand. And a javelin in the other. "You." He said. "It's always you!" He threw the javelin, and it flew toward BHK's chest. He was too stunned to move, too shocked to dodge, but somehow he was in motion. Rinoa had reached them, and was pushing him out of the way.

BHK slipped off the ledge but caught himself, and then he heard the scream. He couldn't tell if it had been Namine or Rinoa but he knew what it must have meant. He climbed back to sure-footing and saw Rinoa lying on her back, Namine crouching over her.

"Rinoa…"BHK said softly, crouching to get a better look. There was a hole through her chest, but no blood. This didn't seem to bother BHK. Rinoa grinned weakly at him. "You couldn't die without knowing the secret…." She breathed.

BHK's vision was blurring, tears welling up in his eyes. "The secret…of names. In Twilight town….they make…..a lot more sense……….backward.." She smiled one last time, then she faded away into nothing.

"Damn you BHK! This is all your fault!" Verde screamed, entering the once locked door. BHK felt the anger bubbling up to the surface. He stood, shaking, and attempted to follow Verde, but Namine held him back.

"Please, don't go." She asked desperately.

"I have to."

Namine searched for something to say, but couldn't seem to come up with anything to change his mind. He started to pull away. "Wait!" She fumbled for something around her neck and pulled out a keychain, decorated like a flower. "You came here with this. Verde still has the other one they found. I want you to promise me that you'll come back, okay?"

BHK suddenly felt himself calm down, and he took the chain with steady hands. "I promise you Namine. I'll come back, no matter how long it takes." He kissed Namine on the forehead, then with determination etched into his face, climbed the ladder and entered the room.

* * *

The locked room appeared to be an old weapons storeroom; various weapons lined the walls. Maces, swords, axes of all shapes and sizes, etc. BHK could not fathom why the townspeople would put their weapons in the tallest room of a clock-tower, but he realized that it didn't matter.

Now, being in the inside, BHK found that the room was surprisingly large, very wide and a ceiling that seemed to stop several stories above him. And, in the center, stood Verde.

"That lance was supposed to be for you." He told BHK coldly. "But then, you always were the lucky one."

"Lucky? How can you call me lucky? A friend of mine has disappeared, and another is dead, by the hands of yet another person I called 'comrade Cot', your hands!" BHK yelled. "And through it all, I still have no idea as to what's going on. Nothing makes sense anymore. Things like this don't happen in real life."

"No, you're wrong" Verde said, taking a step away from him. "Comrades don't steal from one another!"

"What?"

"I knew it. I knew from the moment she saw you that you were going to be trouble.

"Wait, Namine? Is that what this is all about!"

"She was MINE!" Verde screamed. "How dare a newbie like you come in and take her from me? You little snot-nosed punk!"

" '_Snot-nosed_'? Watch it, Verde, you almost hurt my feelings." BHK said with evident sarcasm, the only thing that could cover up the bitterness in his voice.

"I'm better than you! And I always will be! I'll prove it! TO you, to her, to everybody!" Verde said, laughing insanely.

"You've lost it. Completely out of your mind. You killed Rinoa! And my heart does not have enough strength to forgive you. I won't, _can't_ let you win. Not this time." BHK told him.

"Heart? You don't _have _a heart! Don't you get it? We are Nobodies!"

"I don't accept that. If I don't have a heart, then none of this should hurt so much. None of this would drive me to bring you down. You believe what you wanna believe. My heart is telling me to stop you. And if you don't have one, then I suppose that just makes you heartless." BHK got into a fighter's stance.

Verde laughed. "So be it. Enough talk!" He shouted sharply, the air's temperature decreasing. BHK stared as his former friend's skin turned sheet-white, and hardened. Verde grew his body lengthening and expanding until his arms looked like jousting lances, only magnified, with two huge fists at the ends. His eyes seemed to disappear and a cross-shaped mark wrote itself on his forehead. The ceiling seemed to have disappeared, as Verde would have hit it by now.

BHK wasn't sure where they were now, but knew that this would be where it would all be decided. A long blue scarf hung from Verde's neck. He roared, though BHK didn't know from where the sound originated. Verde's jaws, teeth and lips had cemented together.

Verde raised a gigantic fist, and smashed down on BHK, who had raised his own arms in protection. The impact never came. BHK looked up. Verde's fist was straining to smash him, though it was being pushed back by some unseen force. BHK noticed a glow was emitting from his hand, warming it. He opened his fist. The flower charm was glowing.

"That's right." BHK said, talking to Verde. "You can't defeat me now. I have an Oath to keep." The charm charged with power, and a long sword, shaped like a huge key of sorts, materialized in his hand.

"Now then, let's get down to business."

BHK rolled out of the way as his protective aura died. Verde's fist finally made contact with the ground, producing earth-shaking results. Verde swept his hand across the ground, and BHK jumped higher than he ever had to avoid being hit.

He landed on Verde's forearm. To his surprise, the surface was not smooth, as he had suspected, but rough like sandpaper. Thus an idea came to him. He dug his feet and tried to climb Verde's arm. Verde was raising the arm, so the angle he had to climb soon became possible to do, but that didn't stop it from being hard to hold on.

BHK drove the Keyblade through the arm to use as an anchor as Verde thrashed about. BHK vaguely wondered if Verde could feel pain anymore.

Verde raised his arm above his shoulder, and BHK wrenched the Keyblade out. He slid painfully down, and landed in a heap on the huge shoulder-plate. BHK made his way to the head as quickly as possible without danger of falling off, then slashed at Verde's face.

Verde was now so un-proportioned, that it was hard for him to reach that area with his hands. After a few near grabs, and several good hits, Verde went down. BHK rode him most of the way down, then jumped off as he fell to his back.

BHK landed heavily on Verde's chest, damaging his legs in the process. But he ignored the pain, and jumped onto the cross-like shape on Verde's face. With a final roar from the both of them, BHK pierced Verde's armor with the Keyblade.

There was a blinding light, and BHK found himself standing back in the clock-tower's room, Verde on his back beside him.

"So you beat me…" Verde said weakly. "I should've known." Looking pained, Verde reached into his pocket and withdrew a keychain that resembled a black crown. "Don't end up in my place, Aros. Never give in." Verde coughed, and then followed Rinoa by fading away.

BHK pounded the floor with his fist. Now two of is friends were gone forever. _'Why! Why did this have to happen!_' From out of the corner of his eye, BHK spotted movement. He looked up.

A tall man in a long black cloak stood before a swirling vortex of darkness. "So this is how it all plays out…who would have guessed? A nobody being a Keybearer…."

BHK angrily grabbed the dark keychain and stood up. "You're one of the people Namine was talking about! What have you done!"

"They have done nothing, Aros." Said a familiar voice. Zach stepped into view from behind the mysterious man. He too was wearing a cloak. "Zach!"

"Its Slice now. Zach is connected to this place. We can't have that."

"Slice is a stupid name too, hasn't anyone told you that?" BHK snarled.

Zach shrugged. "It's a working title, I haven't really decided yet." He clicked his tongue. "But that's besides the point. I'm really disappointed in you BHK. I was just about to ask you to join us and this is how you act."

"Join you? Join what! In fact-" BHK said, stopping for a moment, "I don't even want to know. I'm not in the mood to have my brain washed today."

Zach laughed. " Brain washed? No, BHK they've just pointed out some facts to me that I hadn't known before. The truth about this world, they helped me to see. That thing you fought just now? That was the true Verde. Those little white creatures? Rinoa was one of them inside. That's why it was so surprising when she sacrificed herself"

"How can you say that so easily?" BHK asked, an incredulous look on his face. "She was one of our friends! So was Verde!"

Zach was laughing again. His voice was cold. "Emphasis on _'was'_. Besides, if you call Verde a friend, I'd hate to see your enemies. Come on, E. Let's go, this is a useless argument."

Zach turned toward the portal. "I'll miss that great sense of humor of yours. You always could make me laugh." Zach walked into the vortex and vanished. The one called E. stayed.

"With your power, you could have easily risen through the ranks of the Organization. But then, your feelings are clouding your mind. I now realize that you even coming to this town was a mistake. You still have a heart, even if it is incomplete. Such a useless thing, the heart. It holds you back from greatness."

E. also turned to leave. "If having a heart stops me from turning on my friends, then I'll keep it. It gives me the strength to carry on. And now it tells me, that you can't just walk out like this! I'll make you pay!" BHK yelled at him. A dark light enveloped his left hand, and another Keyblade, black, appeared.

Swinging his twin blades, BHk rushed toward the cloaked man. E. was chuckling. "It also makes you fools so…predictable." E. stepped through the portal, and BHK leapt in after him, seeing neither Zach, nor the cloaked man. Only darkness.

* * *

BHK awoke, yelling angrily, back in the present. He jolted into a sitting position, breathing heavily.

"After you jumped in, the darkness assaulted your already weakened heart." Namine told him. "Your memories were erased, again and you were almost destroyed outright. But your Keyblades protected you, and your heart from oblivion. You were held in limbo like that, dormant, for a whole year. When you next awoke, reborn so to speak, you arrived in the Destiny Islands, with a basic knowledge of where you were, your name, Kairi's, and you know the rest from there."

BHK didn't bother asking how she knew, he just accepted the information and stood up. Kairi and Yuna seemed to just be waking up from a nap, or a sleep. "How long was I out?"

"A couple of hours tops." Yuna told him. The sky above them was a mix of dark color. BHK checked his watch. It read 4:15 p.m.

"The time is correct, Aros. The bridge between this world and their world," Namine gestured toward Kairi and Yuna. "is almost complete. It causes the sky to darken. This town reflects the amount of darkness active in their world, when the bridge connects. At this rate, this world will probably be cloaked in eternal darkness unless the Organization is stopped.

"You three need to leave, now. Get back on the other side and find the Keyblade Master. Only together, will you be able to defeat the darkness forever." Namine was cut short however, as a blade was placed at her throat.

"I think, you've told them enough Namine, my dear." Axel said, laughing.

"Axel! You're here!" said BHK.

"My, my, you are a _genius_. How did you figure it out?" Axel sneered. "But don't worry. I have new orders. You don't die today. However, can't say much for the Nobody, here…." Axel said, pressing his circular blade into Namine's neck. "Why yes, I think the Princess' shadow shall have to go. Time to say your good-byes!"

"NO!" BHK shouted, lunging forward, but it was too late. With a jerk, Axel cut her neck, and stole Namine's life away. BHK dropped to his knees, stunned. Axel pushed Namine off the ledge.

"Well, that's done." Axel said, slapping his hands together. "Best get away while you can. I have my orders, but _they_ might forget." As he said this, the bolted door rattled in its hinges as a renewed surge by the hidden Flailers arose. " Good evening!" Axel said with a sick smile. He jumped off the edge, and sped into the darkness.

As though far away, BHK could feel and urgent tugging. His body obeyed by slowly standing, his mind too numb to give orders. He could hear frantic shouting, though he couldn't make out the words. He could feel himself in motion, and still so very vaguely, he saw stars rushing past. He was in the gummi ship. He came to that final conclusion before he shut down completely. Unable to cope.

* * *

Kairi and Yuna were not hit as badly as BHK was. For them, they hadn't just lost a loved one. Kairi's mind was whirling, but in the backseat with Yuna, she came to a shocking realization.

"Yuna…! What if…what if the names were simply the names of their previous lives-_backward?_"

Yuna's eyes widened even further. Pushing aside the unbelievable events that just took place, she took up Kairi's train of thought. "Then that would make _Aros…"_

"Sora's half."

* * *

Who figured it out first? Mikol, was that you? Kudos!

Yeah...I felt pretty bad about what happened to Namine this chapter, but what is done is done. Nothing can change that now. Go ahead and tell me what you think!


	40. Learning to Drive

Ok guys. I actually meant for this sotry to be done by this chapter. But now that I've written it, it seems to only be about half-done. So, I hope you guys are set for a long ride! Here goes, the 40th chapter!

* * *

Sora rolled, preventing another ornament from crashing into his skull. It was the same blindfolded exercise. Leon had put him through it again, and again and again, until the Keyblade Master was sore all over, with nice shiny black bruises covering parts of his body that he didn't want to think about.

But he was making definite progress. He could already hear things that he couldn't before, feel things that he would not have noticed. It had only been a couple of days, but at one point, Sora was doing so well hopping around that he pretended he was Spider-man…before a wardrobe closet brought him back down to Earth. Quite literally.

"Alright, Sora. That's enough. I think you've got the gist of it." Leon said from beyond the darkness.  
"Aw, c'mon-! Leon-I can-keep going…!" Sora said, panting heavily. There was laughter.

"Sora, you do realize you're sprawled over the floor gasping for breath?" Yuffie informed him. So he was. He lifted his head, and slowly lowered it again, feeling the wood beneath him.

"C'mon," He heard Leon say, "Let's get this blindfold off him." A moment later, the cloth was removed from his head and Sora let out a yelp of pain as light flooded into his eyes.

As his eyes watered and adjusted, Leon gave him a mug full of a fizzing liquid. "Its one of Merlin's concoctions. It'll give your body everything it needs to keep going." Sora, (very warily after having been exposed to Merlin's cooking in the past) drained the mug in one sitting. Instantly, an energized tingling swept through his body. Sora hopped to his feet, ready and raring to go.

"Alright guys! Let's rock! Time's a-wasting we gotta go! Go! GO!" Sora yelled, with a goofy grin on his face. Then, mid-bounce, he keeled over and hit the floor again, snoring loudly.

* * *

Several hours later, Sora's eyes snapped open and he bolted into a sitting position. He was on his bed, and Yuffie was by the door, grinning at him. "Morning Sora! Leon's waiting for in the practice room. Better hurry too! I think you'll like this." Yuffie hinted, walking way.

Sora crawled out of bed and slipped into his shoes, which had been removed during his slumber. Sora then made his way to the chamber, scowling when he caught sight of Leon. "What'd you do to me! That stuff knocked me out cold!" Sora told him.

Leon waved his hand dismissively. "I didn't do anything, Sora. I told you that potion would give your body what it needed to keep going. Apparently you needed rest. So that's what you got. Besides, look yourself over. Those bruises are gone now at least."

Sora tried not to look too pleased about this fact. He was still rather angry about (from his point of view) drugged. "What'd you call me here for anyway?" Leon's eyes twinkled. It creeped Sora out.

"Our time here is coming to a close Sora. Merlin and the Godmother tell us that the darkness is beginning to shift again. Who knows what the Organization is up to. We felt that you might still need a more power for the job, just in case.

"Merlin found this technique from some of his ancient scrolls. It has no proper name, so I like to call it the Drive." Leon said. Sora's eyebrows lifted, his curiosity piqued. "So what is the 'Drive' exactly?" He asked.

"The Drive is a type of temporary fusion of two hearts. Very few people have been able to perform it successfully, the initial ritual can be rather dangerous if done incorrectly, but we feel you can handle it."

"How does it work?" Sora asked, not at all fazed by the threat of dangerous rituals.

"From what we've been able to gather, its something like a merger of two Hearts. The Drive is based off of trust, and the two Hearts must be in sync for this to work. Now the first person, the Faith, will surrender their heart and life force to you, the receiver."

"Why's he called the 'Faith'?" Sora broke in.

"Because he has the most to lose." Leon told him firmly. "The Faith is the most vunerable person in this spell. It is that heart that gets transferred for the time, the body is completely vulnerable. Now, Merlin has thought of a way to protect the body from harm after a successful Drive. It _should_ fade away, then come back when the heart is released again."

"Sounds cool enough. When can I learn? And who's going to be the Faith?" Sora asked.

"We're starting as soon as the others get here. We want all of our spellcasters and mages here in the event that something goes wrong. Merlin, Godmother, and even Donald should be present. But Donald is really here just so he can learn to be the Faith."

"Donald's my faith! That's never going to work." Sora said doubtfully.

"Donald is **_not_** the faith. Goofy has already volunteered, considering you guys don't fight, its probably for the best." Sora looked over at the King's knight, who was napping peacefully in a corner.

"Whatever you say."

Within minutes, the three aforementioned people trooped in, looking excited, anxious and in Donald's case, very skeptical. "If so few people have done it, then how do you know Sora can? He can barely even tie his shoes right!" Donald huffed.

"Sora held the Princess' heart with him all that time two years ago. That's why we know his heart has the capability. But the actual action will be all up to him, and his will. He'll do it." Leon said.

"Okay Sora, Goofy. We need perfect focus." Merlin told them. Goofy was now awake, standing next to Sora with a slightly more serious face than usual. Slightly. "Now then, Sora. There's no real explanation for this, but apparently you need to call his heart unto yourself. And Goofy, you must be willing to give."

_'Call? How do you call to a heart that doesn't belong to you?'_ Sora wondered silently. A sudden idea popped into his head, and he imagined Goofy handing him his heart. After several long moments, Sora unscrewed his eyes and looked around. Goofy was looking at him while scratching his head. Everyone else looked rather bored. Even old Merlin.

"…Er, right. Well, that didn't work." Sora said quite obviously. "What were you thinking of?" Merlin inquired. Sora shrugged. "I dunno, I just imagined Goofy handing over his heart?" Donald snorted and Sora realized the stupidity of the idea now that it was out loud.

"Imagination isn't strong enough Sora. You need to feel for his heart, then bring it to you." Sora shrugged.

"I'll give it another try." Sora closed his eyes again, searching for a different approach. Sora wondered what Goofy was thinking, just standing there, waiting for something to happen. '_Probably wishing he could take a nap.'_ Sora thought, laughing internally. A mental picture formed of Goofy snoring peacefully in the background.

That's when he felt it. He couldn't describe the feeling, he just knew it was there. And, as the memory faded away, so did that feeling. Sora quickly summoned more memories. Being part of everything he knew about Goofy. His silly face, his relaxed slouch, all down to, "Hyuck!". The feeling returned, and grew stronger. Sora now knew what it was. The connection between Goofy and himself. The bond between friends. "Goofy! I summon you!" He heard himself say. "Lend me your strength!"

Sora magic crackling around him, and could feel Goofy close by. He opened his eyes. His body was glowing, and his keychain shone. Goofy was gone, but Sora knew where he was.

Within him.

* * *

Review. Woot! 


	41. Reroute

yeah, yeah, I'm coming. I'm late I know, sue me. Or shoot me. Whatever. But on the bright side, school's almost out! Sweet! XD less than a week left! Hell, less than half a week left. Which means one of two things when summer comes. One, I'll start posting like mad...or two, I'll suddenly get very lazy and the updates will slow. Only time will tell. XD! Summer is here!

* * *

Sora heard the crackling energy, felt it too. It was spreading throughout his body, charging him, giving him more power than he ever had alone. It was too much. The power had stopped rising now, but he couldn't take what was already there. With a shout, he lost control and dropped to his knees, the energy slipping from him.

Soon Goofy was back in physical form, and was kneeling beside him to check if he was alright. Leon and Donald had rushed over too. "Are you alright Sora? I'm impressed. Even that was a big step."

Sora felt numb, dull. Not spiritually, but in his actual body. He could detect some pressure, but overall he couldn't feel anything. He tried to speak, but his tongue and lips weren't moving properly. Instead, he simply nodded or shook his head to answer questions.

"How do you feel?" Leon demanded. "If it was too much strain, don't try it again." Sora finally commanded the power of speech.

"I just feel…tired." Sora said. "But I'm okay." Sora told him, but felt the need to explain more. "…It was, just so much energy…you know? I couldn't handle it." Sora said, slightly angry at himself.

"Don't feel bad Sora," Merlin said. "I did not expect you to master this from your first try."

"Yeah!" Yuffie said grinning. "We're still just happy it didn't kill you!" Sora looked at her with a questioning gaze. "Kill me?"

"Oh yeah! Didn't they tell you that?" Yuffie told him, waving her hand in a off-handish kind of manner.

"Must of slipped their minds." Sora said, frowning at Leon.

"Hey kid, don't blame me. You were all for it. You didn't even stop to hear the risks." Leon said shrugging. "You still could have told me!" Sora shot back. Leon shrugged again.

"With friends like you…"Sora muttered under his breath.

"So! Ready to try again?" Yuffie asked energetically. Sora looked at her as if she were crazy. But, luckily, Merlin stepped in for him.

"In no way is Sora ready for another attempt. He needs rest, perhaps another potion…." But Sora immediately protested forcefully. "I can get to sleep on my own Merlin," Sora said, stumbling to his feet, steadied by Goofy. "I sure need some."

Sora slowly made his way to his room, keeping enough strength not to need the wall for leverage. He crawled into the bed when he entered his room, his mind whirling with questions about the Drive, and what had drained him so…his mind finally rested on Yuffie's comment. '_ready to try again…?_' Sora stared at the ceiling. "…who needs enemies?"

* * *

It was the next day, (or next night, whatever your preference) the others had decided not to let him try again within a 24-hour period. But now he was standing in the middle of the training room again, Goofy beside him. "This time Sora," Merlin was saying, "try channeling the energy into the Keyblade. It may take the stress off of you."

"Right" Sora said, giving a sharp nod. Merlin gave him the signal to proceed and Sora closed his eyes. He reformed the connecting bond that was key for the spell, and after a moment of concentration, summoned Goofy to himself again.

Within moments, Sora felt the power filling him again. This time, he focused on directing it into the Keyblade, which in turn, began to shine brighter and brighter as the process continued.

But it was also becoming harder to hold. It was vibrating fiercely, but that wasn't all of it. The Keyblade wasn't built for this type of thing it, like its Master, had a limit to how much it could contain.

Eventually, the entire spell broke. Goofy returned to his natural state and let the Keyblade hit the ground,and Sora wastired, but not exhausted, like he had been before. Merlin's theory had worked, just not as completely as he had hoped.

"How do you feel Sora?" Leon was asking again.

"Better," Sora replied. "But I don't think the Keyblade is enhanced enough to anchor this thing." Sora noticed a quick gleam around Leon's neck and was struck by a sudden idea. "Hey Leon! Could I borrow your old Keychain again?"

"Sure kid, butyou never had to give it back in the first place." Leon drew the chain from his pocket and gave it to Sora, who quickly swapped it with the current chain. Forgetting that the Kingdom keychain was still in his fist, Sora turned to Goofy. "Got enough energy for one more try?" Goofy gave a salute.

"Alright, here we go." This time, everything happened much quicker, Sora assumed he was already getting used to it. "Goofy!" Sora called, and felt Goofy vanish from his side.

Sora directed the incoming power once again into his Keyblade. The Lionheart was handling it better than the unmodified key had, but Sora felt its limit drawing near. Sora made a quick decision to keep the rest within him.

The power was building, Sora could feel the crackling energy form around him again. But it was twisting inside him, filling him to the breaking point, somewhere in his mind, a doubtful voice told him that the spell would break again. But in response, a stronger voice refused to let that happen. "I will not fail again!" Sora didn't know if he had only screamed in his mind, or in reality, it was possibly both, but he felt a warm sensation pressing from within his free hand.

"Drive!" Sora shouted, and the force erupted from him and knocked the onlookers back by sheer power. Sora's eyes opened. His body was enveloped in a red glow, and red sparks of energy crackled here and there. "Its holding!" Sora shouted. "Its working!"

He finally had control over the spell. And then he noticed why that was. In his left hand, the Kingdom Key had materialized of its own accord. With two Keyblades to siphon off the energy, the spell had been successful.

Merlin's furniture sprang to life, beginning his first test. Sora swung with his weapon, the slashes reaching out far beyond the actual blade. Six feet away, and entire closet was reduced to twigs and splinters from just one swing. With the Lionheart, he shattered three teapots that had foolishly grouped together that were 5 feet from him.

Several other pieces of furniture floated above him, ready to use swooping hit and run tactics. Sora launched himself into the air, and was surprised to see that he stayed there.

He could fly again! Or at least hover. Grinning madly, Sora darted forward in mid-air using an aerial look-a-like of the Sonic Blade. During this move, the rush of energy surrounding Sora destroyed anything that came into contact with him.

Within seconds, all opposing obstacles were similarly destroyed, and Sora glided down to the floor. The Keyblades shone one final time, and the Drive ended, vanishing the extra blade, and leaving Sora breathless, but happy.

"That was awesome!" Sora exclaimed, once he had enough air. Goofy had reappeared and now agreed with a "hyuck!" "Let's do it again!"

"I am afraid, thatis impossible." Merlin told him. "This technique requires a set level of power to start. After it ends, due to my precautions, it takes a little extra magic above that to return the Faith to normal form. Your body's resources are actually more depleted than they seem. Before you can attempt another Drive, you must regain the lost energy."

Sora huffed. "And how do I do that? If I need to use it quickly, I'll be defenseless. Its not like I can take a nap in the middle of the battlefield."

Leon looked at him sternly. "You shouldn't become dependent on the Drive, Sora. Remember to rely on your own power. Sometimes your friends won't be there to help you."

"But there are some ways around this dilemma," Merlin said, making Sora shift his attention to him again. "Though a rest would be the safest way, fighting would prove much quicker."

"Fighting?" Sora asked, puzzled.

"Indeed. Various types of energy is built up when the body is in motion, but don't you find that with every Heartless you destroy, a little magic returns to you?" Sora thought about it, then gave a slow nod. "Heartless are filled with magic, when you defeat one, you automatically absorb some of its energy. Fighting Heartless long enough will give you the power you need after a time."

Sora stood there with his jaw hanging. "I'm absorbing Heartless? No way! I don't want anything to do with them!"

"Don't worry about it" Leon said, eyes closed and leaning against a wall. "You only take their leftover magic. Magic itself is neither good or evil, light or dark, though its roots can be found in both. Its what you use the magic for, how you shape it, that matters. But in the end Sora, you just need to get stronger. The deeper your reserves go, the more magic you can cast and the more powerful spells will become available. The same applies for the Drive. But, you already knew that didn't you?" Leon opened his eyes.

"You know an awful lot about magic for someone who hardly uses any." Sora commented.

Leon chuckled. "I've used a good share of magic in my day, trust me. My skills have tarnished as of late, but I'm still a better spell-caster than most of the specialists."

"I'll work on that tomorrow I suppose." Sora said, stretching lazily, but Yuffie interrupted him. "I don't think so, Sora. You've been sent a message."

Sora ran to the window at which the ninja was pointing. The moon, that had been so clear and radiant earlier was now obscured, though nothing seemed to be the cause; no clouds were visible. And beyond the moon, a feeble flickering light was fighting for its life. It lost. And the darkness consumed it.

The sight filled Sora with rage. "Vacation's over. Time to get back to work."

* * *

But urgh...with school's end comes finals...I hate high school! And then summer school...Dont ask me what I failed, it would shock and confuse you. So wish me luck instead. And...

Review!


	42. Squabble

Well that was fast, but we're back online baby! I had some trouble posting this, is fanfiction giving anybody else problems with the updating? Hmm...Well anyway, this chapter's kind of short sort of me warming up to really get back into the thick of it you know?

I had a good portion of this chapter written in my notebook, but I forgot said notebook at my brother's and was forced to redo this from memory and subtle tweaks. Of course, it being summer and me being a naturally lazy guy, this seemed like a momentous task and I put it off for weeks. Then, the other day I saw that I had not updated in like a month, and I was forced to begin the typing after all. So there.

Oh and on a side note: Yes. I did in-fact fail English, which is a bogus charge really. Cause I had English HONORS last year and passed it, but this year I fail English HET (Regular) yet get a 88 on the Final. (All year complied into a test) How the hell can you do that! Sometimes I really worry about me.

* * *

Kairi watched in silence as BHK piloted Sarah through space. Kairi couldn't help being concerned about BHK. He didn't speak unless confirming commands to the computer, or asked a direct question, and both were few and far between. Yuna and Kairi hadn't lost much when it came to Namine. But BHK had lost a loved one, and the only connection to his past. Kairi hadn't thought BHK had cared so much about his former life until now. She hadn't even known he couldn't remember.

But then Kairi realized, that she would probably be the same way if Sora had died. She glanced at BHK's face, determined, but strangely blank. Kairi wondered if it was coincidence that Namine and BHK had found in each other what herself and Sora had.

* * *

"Okay! Where to now Sora? Let's get moving!" Donald said, excitedly. He didn't like waiting anyplace for long, in fact he may enjoy the stars more than even Sora did.

They had left Traverse town without too much emphasis on good-byes. Sora didn't like long good-byes, and the truth of the matter was they'd probably be back soon anyway.

"Oh, and by the way Sora did you pay Cid back for that equipment you took?" Donald said, looking at him sternly. Sora rolled his eyes. "Yes, _Mother_!" (Donald chose to ignore this comment) "I separated about 200 pieces of munny. It should be more than enough to cover everything."

"You didn't put it in a clear plastic bag did you Sora?" Goofy asked, "Cause that would be really low-class."

Sora's face took on a fierce shade of red. _'I am sooo glad I lost that freezer bag before I could put the munny in….'_ "No way! I know better than that!" Sora said, lying through his teeth and developing a strange cough.

"So Sora, what bag did you put it in?" Donald asked, a curious look on his face. "I found a brown sack like the one the Munny came in." Sora said shrugging.

"Exactly like the one the Unknown gave us huh?" Donald said, smiling a worried smile, "can I see the munny we have left?" Sora shrugged again. "Sure," Sora fetched the sack and opened it, allowing his jaw to drop at the sight.

Donald shook his head. "I knew it."

-Back in Cid's Garage-

Cid walks into his office and eyes a strange bag sitting on his table with a note on it written with an untidy scrawl; "From Sora". Cid opened the bag and soon finds himself doing a horrible happyjig around his desk, as 1,800 balls of munny clink against each other in the brown bag.

-Gummi Ship-

"Only you,Sora" Donald said, hands pressed firmly against his face. "Only you could switch 200 balls of munny, for 1,800! We're back to being broke again…!"

"Hey, at least we've got **_some_** munny this time!" Sora said in weak defense, still red-faced.

"Sora! 200 balls just isn't what it used to be! Back in my day that could buy you something! Nowadays you twits can't go shopping without over a thousand in your pockets!"

"Oh shut up! You aren't even that old! '_back in my day this, back in my day that!'_ You _had_ no 'my days'!" Sora shouted, while doing a very good impression of Donald.

"It doesn't change the fact that 200 is jack-didily!"

"What the heck is jack-didily! NOBODY says that anymore!"

"Oh really? Then how about this? YOU'VE GOT JACK-SQUAT!" Donald yelled at him.

"You lousy duck!"

"You hot-headed brat!"

"Waddler!"

"Idiot!"

"Bird-brain!" Sora said, with a sharp note on the end.

Donald was wide-eyed, then burst out laughing. "HAHAHAHA! DID YOU JUST SQUEAK! HEY GOOFY! HE JUST SQUEAKED! HAHAHAHAHA! It looks like you've finally hit puberty!"

It didn't seem possible, but Sora went even redder. "YOU'RE JUST MAD 'CAUSE YOU'RE SOME CHINESE ENTRÉE!" Donald was struck silent. Then he pulled out his wand. "I'm going to make you eat those words, boy!" Donald said, staff glowing blue.

"Yeah! I am pretty hungry Donald, I could go for some ROAST DUCK!" Sora said, Keyblade aimed, and charging a fire spell.

They were locked in a fierce stand-off, tension mounting. Until;

"Hey guys..! There's this green light-thingy on the dashboard! It looks like we got one o' them e-mails!"

"Where's it from Goofy?" Donald asked, not shifting his gaze from Sora. Goofy looked over the console.

"Uhh…Home."

* * *

Okay! Uh, I'm going to remove the previous announcement from the site, so the next update notice you see will say "New chapter 42" which you may think wil be the same chapter as this, but it won't be. Just letting you know

Review


	43. Onward

"What do you mean Goofy?" Donald asked, coming over.

"Its from Queen Minny and Lady Daisy. It looks like they want us to come home!" Goofy said with a "Hyuck!"

"What for?" Donald asked warily.

"Well, I'm sure I don't know Donald. I guess we should go and find out."

"Maybe something's happened to the castle? No…not with my spells…." Donald mumbled.

"Or maybe the King has returned for good!" Goofy said brightly. Sora magically appeared at the dashboard. "Or maybe they want to throw me a party for saying the worlds!"

"No one wants to throw a little brat like you a party!" Donald said angrily. "Goofy! Set a course for the Magic Kingdom! Lucky its close huh, Goofy?"

"If you think a day and a half away is close Donald…." Goofy said, with a lazy shrug.

"You idiot! What'd you mean a day and a half away? Its right near Traverse Town!"

"Nu-uh. Not anymore Donald. They sent directions. Says here that the Magic Kingdom is now behind, ag-baba." Goofy said, mispronouncing a name they all (except Goofy apparently) recognized.

"Agrabah! And let me see the console!" Donald said, pushing Goofy out of the way.

"Why didn't you tell me your home-world was near Agrabah? We could've stopped by last time we were there!" Sora said brightly.

"It wasn't there last time, Sora. Hyuck! It was right where Donald said, behind Traverse Town. Now its near Aug-ra-baaa"

"Agrabah!" Donald said, resurfacing and looked troubled. "And I don't know what its doing there. Whole planets just can't get up and walk away!" Donald said, thinking hard. "It looks like we're just going to have to investigate." Donald said to Goofy, and acting as if Sora wasn't by his elbow. Donald still hadn't forgiven Sora for that "entrée" comment, and neither was Sora in a better mood; after all, it had only happened a few minutes ago.

"Okay!" Donald quacked. "We'll be able to get there pretty quick! The wormhole connection is pretty active right now! Full speed ahead!"

* * *

Sarah Anna-Belle Morgan blasted out of the space-rift; leaving Twilight Town behind, and returning to normal space.

"Where to now?" Kairi asked, recovering much faster than before from the spinning madness while riding the rift.

"Isn't it obvious?" BHK replied, without facing her but still looking forward through the wind-shield. "We continue our search for Sora. You heard Namine--" Kairi heard the well-covered pain in his voice, "—soon the Neo will arrive and that will just make it harder to search for the Door. Especially since my magic is limited, and that seems to work best on them. The sooner we find Sora, the better. For Everyone."

Kairi wondered what would happen when they finally found Sora. What would BHK do? What would _she_ do? It was even possible that Sora might attack on-sight, believing BHK to be her captor. _'Nah…'_ Kairi thought. '_Sora will see he's been protecting us. He's not that stupid.'_

It was all so confusing. Technically, BHK shouldn't rightly exist, so it was all very strange. They were entering the unknown territory. Both the thought itself, and the Organization they found themselves pitted against.

"Kairi" called Yuna's voice, breaking the redhead from her thoughts. "Do you have any idea where Sora might be?"

"Sora probably wouldn't stay in one place too long." Kairi said, thinking aloud. "But he might be at Traverse Town. Cid's there, and it's a good place to rest. What do you think BHK?" she asked, drawing him into the conversation. She could tell he was trying to close up again.

"Its probably our best bet."

"We can be there in approximately an hour, the world is programmed into the Warp drive." Sarah informed them.

"Initiate." BHK ordered.

"Will do, boss! Fasten your seatbelts, and all bodyparts inside the cockpit at all times during the warp—"

"Just GO!"

"And we're off!" the ship said, activating the thrusters and jumping into hyperspace.

* * *

Sorry that took so long. I'm also sorry that it's short, I know you guys are probably getting a little restless, and I promise the next one shall be updated with the speed you guys expect. (And the normal length to! I'll get on it right away!)

Oh! And one more thing! One week of Summer school left! XD

Review.


	44. Timing is Everything

Yo guys! When we last left off….well you're reading it! You remember for once! Sheesh….expect me to do all the work don't you……

* * *

"Okay, strap in. The wormhole is open and we're heading to Agrabah!" Donald said with enthusiasm. "Thrusters full power, ship full speed!" The Gummi ship's engines roared and shot them into the spinning vortex ahead.

Meanwhile, a second after they disappeared, the Sarah Anna-belle Morgan sped out of hyperspace. "Ugh….I'm never going to get used to that…." Kairi said, holding her stomach and forehead.

"I think its quite refreshing Kairi." Yuna said happily. Kairi looked at her with one of those stares that said, 'You-are-insane-and you-probably-know-it.' Yuna didn't seem to notice, and instead turned her mismatched eyes to the outside.

"Oooh! Is that it? That little planet over there?" She asked excitedly, pointing at their destination. "That's Traverse Town. Nice to see its still safe."

"Did you expect it not to be?" Kairi asked. BHK didn't answer. BHK proceeded to maneuver the ship into landing position. Letting the ship handle most of the equations for reaching the ground safely, BHK leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes, sighing heavily.

"Looks like he needs some rest." Yuna said, her attention back inside the ship and her eyes resting on their companion. Kairi agreed. Hopefully, rest would be what they found in Traverse Town. BHK placed his hands on the controls again and guided Anna-belle to the ground.

Their landing successful, Kairi and Yuna hopped out at once and stretched. BHK followed suit, though briskly and he didn't give himself the comfort of a good stretch. "Come on. I don't want to waste anymore time until we reach Cid's shop."

"Oh, lighten up." Kairi said, starting to get annoyed by BHK's moping attitude. "Its only a few yards away! We can see it from here!" Kairi said, waving her hand to the shop's sign and the building under it, which was in fact in plain view.

"And if you notice, Heartless often seem to pop up when you are almost wherever you want to be." BHK shot back, before walking ahead first. Kairi, having no response to BHK's truth, glared at him and followed only after Yuna walked between them.

Luckily, no Heartless jumped out to attack them, and they walked up to the shop's doors in perfect condition. But the shop was dark, and it appeared that nobody was inside. "They're probably at the house in the second district." Kairi said hopefully. BHK frowned. "Don't worry! That's still not to much further from here."

"It's still extra distance for the Heartless to swoop down on us. Let's go." They continued on, and a few minutes later, they were standing outside the small house, still unscathed. This time the lights were on, and they could see moving figures behind foggy windows.

BHK looked disappointed, as though he had been hoping to confront Heartless the entire way. Kairi opened the door, and was immediately pulled inside. "Kairi!" Yuffie exclaimed, "Welcome back! What kept you so long?"

"Well Yuffie!" Kairi said, gasping after that bear-hug, "Searching the stars for one person isn't as easy as it sounds."

"It didn't sound easy when you started." Leon said, leaning against the opposite wall.

"Exactly." Kairi said, massaging her ribs.

"Have you seen him?" BHK asked, stepping forward and further into the room.

"As a matter of fact, we have." Cid said, making his presence known. He was sitting at a table, drinking what seemed to be coffee.

"What? When!" BHK demanded.

"He just left. A few minutes before you just showed up."

"And you are just telling us this now!" BHK asked, unbelievingly. "You should have told us as soon as we walked into the door!"

"It hadn't occurred to me." Cid said, shrugging. "I had assumed you knew anyway. I figured you had to have seen him."

"Well we didn't! C'mon let's go!" BHK told Kairi. However, Yuna who was still outside, protested. "We just got here! Can't we rest a bit and stretch our legs?"

"Who's that?" Yuffie asked, trying to peer around BHK to get a better look.

"Who ever it is, you should listen to her." Cid said from the table.

"Why! They just left! We can catch them!" BHK said loudly.

"No, yeh can't."

"Why not?" Kairi asked, before BHK exploded.

"If you didn't see them on your way in, then they probably took a wormhole to the next galaxy over."

"And?" BHK said impatiently. "Wormholes don't just close."

"Normally, you'd be right kid." Cid said grimly. "But everything's acting up these days, thrown out of whack. That wormhole closed. Probably right behind them. Depending on when you arrived, you probably didn't notice. The next time it'll be open will be tomorrow afternoon."

"Great" Kairi said, a little disheartened. "They could be anywhere by then…."

"And of course, they didn't say where they were going…." BHK said, more of a statement than a question. When he got no response he slid down the wall and just sat there. "Damn. I can't believe we were so close…."

"Look on the bright side, BHK." Yuna said, kneeling down beside him. "At least it's good to know that we were so close, that means we're on the right track."

"I like her. She reminds of Aeris." Yuffie said cheerfully. But at these words Leon and Cid's faces grew dark. Kairi noticed, but BHK had not it seemed.

"Yeah, whatever." BHK said, before pushing himself to his feet. "I'm going for a walk." BHK pushed the door open then strode out into the night.

"What's the matter with _him_?" Yuffie asked.

* * *

"Wow! That was fast!" Sora exclaimed, unbuckling his seatbelt to get a better look at the dessert world below them. "Agrabah hasn't changed a bit!"

"That means it'll be just as hot!" Donald said frowning.

"Oh come on….it wasn't even that bad last time!" Sora told him. Donald rounded.

"You have no idea! You stupid kid! Do you have any idea how hot it is beneath layers of feathers!"

"Oh, you know Donald, you're right. I've got to be more open to others feelings….You must be **_roasting_** down there." Sora sneered.

"Why you little!"

"Okay guys! How about we just land?" Goofy asked, obviously trying to head off the brewing fight. Donald looked back. "NO! GOOFY DON"T PUSH _THAT BUTTON!_"

But it was too late. Goofy had already attempted the landing procedure. And Sora thought, judging by the way they we now tumbling helplessly through Agrabah's atmosphere, he must have done it very wrong.

* * *

Review. 


	45. Magic lessons

"Aooooooh….Ow…" Donald groaned as he sat up. He felt groggy, like he always did when ever he suddenly plummeted out of the sky. He took a glance around. It wasn't too bad. Sora and Goofy were sprawled across the sand, unconscious, but okay. The Gummi Ship was the problem.

It was stuck nose-down in the sand. The entire cockpit was underneath the grains. "Oh great…." Donald muttered. He turned back to his companions. Sora seemed to be stirring slightly, and Goofy had already sat up. Donald growled at him. "Goofy! You moron!" Donald yelled, afterwards taking a moment to catch his breath.

Donald looked to the sky. The blazing sun was already taking its toll on him. Without another word Donald started off towards the city. Goofy was standing now and looking after his companion. "Hey Donald! What about Sora!" Goofy asked.

"Aww. He'll catch up!" Donald said angrily. "There's nothing we can do about the ship out here anyway."

Donald and Goofy made 100 yards before they heard: "Hey! Guys wait up!"

* * *

"Auuggh…." Sora moaned after ten minutes had passed. "It is sooo hot….h-ey! Donald. Can't you whip up some clothes for this kind of weather or something?"

"I can try…" Donald said thoughtfully. "Great!" Sora said, his voice filled with hope.

Donald waved his wand around a bit then pointed it at Sora. "Presto Chango!" Instantly, Sora was transformed. Goofy laughed out loud, and even Donald could not hold back a snicker or two.

"WHAT THE HELL DONALD!"

"Why are you yelling at me Sora? You wanted something more suitable!" Donald replied before breaking into a fit of hysterical laughter. For Sora you see, was a camel. And there really isn't anything funnier than turning one of your best friends into a camel. Especially if you were pissed off at said friend. (In example, if he called you a popular dinner in various restaurants.)

However, this fun was cut short, as Donald had not anticipated the unique power he had given to Sora as a side-effect. He realized his mistake as carefully aimed saliva splattered all over his face.

"Change me back." Sora ordered, readying another spit projectile. Donald waved his wand in disgust while trying to get the foul-smelling substance off his face. But Sora had something else up his sleeve. "Blizzard!" He yelled, and immediately a jet of sub-zero temperature air hit Donald and froze the saliva.

Now it was Sora's turn to laugh. Due to the position of the liquid when blizzard had hit, Donald's beak had been frozen shut. And it was funnier still to see Donald stamp around like a spoiled child in efforts to pry his beak open.

"Maybe you can try your spell again in half-an hour or so!" Sora said laughing deeply yet managing to squeak in the end. Of course, Sora developed a heavy cough from nowhere in attempts to hide it.

They moved on, Donald still silenced and frozen, but due to the freezing spell, the air around them was significantly cooler and it was a pleasant walk for a few minutes. Then the heat returned.

Donald's beak was soon un-frozen and he attempted to make climate-ready clothes for everyone. In the end, Donald was dressed in clothes nearly identical to the Sultan's, and Goofy was dressed like Aladdin himself. Right down to the shoes.

"Hey! What about me?" Sora panted, whining and forcing himself to even drag his feet along in the blistering sand.

Donald shrugged. "I must be out of energy" He said with a sneer. "I guess you'll just have to **suffer** through it."

"You are evil…." Sora spat.

"Hey, don't blame me." Donald said, raising his arms above his head. "You were the doofus who wore all black to a desert. I'm surprised you haven't dropped dead yet." Donald said, shrugging again.

"I think…there still might be time for that…." Sora said slowly, clutching at his chest.

"Or had a stroke" Goofy added.

"Can't…._breathe…._" Sora wheezed.

"Whatever" Donald said, turning his back on the Key bearer. He thought he heard something heavy hit the sand behind him, but ignored it until Goofy's voice rang out. "Sora!"

Donald turned around to see Sora lying face-down in the sand for the second time that day. "Oh come on….We don't have time for this!" Donald grumbled. "You're just trying to get attention. Sora! Sora?"

* * *

Sora awoke lying on his back staring at the light blue sky. Wherever he was, it was cool and shady and very comfortable. He stretched, but stopped short as a sharp pain rocketed through his sides.

"Hey kiddo." Said the sky, as the pain began to subside.

"I'm fine Mr. Sky." Sora said, perfectly okay with the concept of speaking with atmosphere.

"Hmm…maybe not. Are you sure he didn't hit his head too?" Said the sky.

"Who else are you talking to?" Sora asked the sky while trying to sit up and see. The room he was in was slowly coming back into focus. "Hey…you aren't the sky…Genie!"

"There we go." Genie said grinning. Donald and Goofy were on pads behind him. They were in Aladdin's place, but the boy was nowhere in sight.

"What happened?" Sora asked, sitting up further, but wincing at the pain in his side.

"You collapsed out in the desert." Goofy told him.

"They told me all about it. I think you might have damaged something in the fall." Genie said. "On the outside you look fine, but on the inside you're really messed up kiddo. You've definitely bruised some ribs. That alone stops you from breathing right. Combined with how quickly you started moving after the crash, and the heat from the sun and you're weird clothes…I'm surprised you aren't dead."

"See! That's what I said! I told you so!" Donald shouted from his pad, a smug look on his face.

"What? Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Sora asked bluntly. "I should be dead but no, you're basically a very lucky moving corpse?" Donald seemed to have to think after that one. Sora moved on.

"Okay, well thanks and all, but we should probably get going. Why hasn't anyone just healed me yet?" Sora asked to the room.

"I wouldn't trust it Sora." Genie said, his voice mysterious. Which was very un-characteristic of him.

"Why?"

"My powers have been acting up recently. And I can't find out why….from this world anyway." Genie said, with a thoughtful tone.

Sora stared at him. "What do you mean your powers are acting up! Your powers can't act up! That's…that's just weird!" He exclaimed. Donald was also looking on in interest. Magic was his area of expertise after all.

"HIIIOOOHHH!" Genie yelled suddenly, causing Donald to jump and Sora to bash his head on the wall. "I THINK ITS TIME FOR…..a lesson in magic." Genie said, becoming a school-teacher and summoning desks from thin air.

'_Powers aren't working my arse….'_ Sora thought bitterly as Genie made a ruler from a puff of smoke.

"Alrighty then class. Here is how it works." Genie began. "In magic there are two different classes. Those classes are: The Magic Users, and the Magical Creatures. Today, we'll take a gander into Magic Users." On Sora's desk, a sheet of paper appeared and a pencil was copying Genie's words down.

"The Magic User's also have different categories within themselves. The most common are, Sorcerers, Mages, Wizards and Warlocks." Genie told them. (He had now adopted a grey-haired wig and overly large, thick glasses)

"What about withes!" Sora interjected. He was quickly rapped on the head by the ruler.

"We are in class young man, and we pronounce all of our words correctly. Its witches not withes. And no, they are not important." Genie told him.

"Whaddaya mean they're not important?" Sora asked angrily, rubbing his scalp.

"Magic can be harnessed in one of three ways, or a combination of those three." Genie continued, ignoring Sora's interruption. "In order to use magic, first and foremost, you have to have a heart. If you have no Heart, then you can perform no Magic. DUH….

"We all seem to have Hearts here, so let's move on. The three ways to harness Magic are, to be able to draw from yourself, to be able to draw from the world, or to have an already magical object." (Sora's pen underlined magical object three times.)

"Sorcerers and Wizards are types that use Magic via their own energy source." Genie said. After seeing the blank faces, he continued. "Their Hearts. They take energy from their own Hearts and use that energy to perform Magic. This has its up-sides…and its downsides…." Genie said, trailing off a bit.

"Since they supply their own energy, Magic is always on hand, but often, they must use magical objects (the pen underlined again) or special techniques to boost the spell's power, since many Hearts are not strong enough alone to summon powerful Magic.

"The problem with Wizard's and Sorcerers is, that they all have very definite limits. You can only take so much energy from your Heart at one time. If you take too much, then your Heart collapses and you die." Genie said simply. But Sora was shocked. He hadn't know there was that much danger in simple magic.

"And every time you use Magic as a Wizard or Sorcerer, you weaken your own Heart until its lost energy is restored."

"Restored?" Sora asked.

"Why yes, silly." Genie said, waving his hand. "The Heart's energy doesn't get used and thrown away. It comes back over time. Depending on the spell, that time will vary. And this is another reason why being a Wiz or Sor is so tricky. As the life-span goes on for any person, the Heart's amount of maximum energy available changes. When you are a baby, you've got little energy in your heart. As you grow, your energy levels increase, then you hit your peak, and your energy levels decrease again. Wizes and Sors always check their energy levels.

"In conclusion, there is no such thing as an evil Wizard. Throughout history, Wizards generally utilize the Light of their hearts, and Sorcerers use the Darkness. The Darkness is as you already know, a very volatile source of energy and corrupts over time. Sorcerers equal evil. Wizards equal good. Like-wise, Witches are assistants to Wizards generally. There is no such thing as an evil witch either. They are called Sorceress.

"Now then. Onto Mages. Listen up Quack-head, this concerns you." Genie said sternly to Donald, who glowered at him. "Mages use the energy from their home-world's Heart. This also has its pros and cons. Mages can never use up all the power a world has to offer. Any given world has too much energy built up for any one mage to harness. And also, there are only a certain number of people on any given world who have Mage potential.

"This is good because the world's Heart won't collapse, and the Mage has a near constant vat of energy. However. A mage has his or her limits. Being a mage grants you great magical ability. But that does not mean you can just fire off spells left and right. Mages act as a conduit for the energy of their home-world, and so they physically tire after a while. Until they get some rest, their bodies will not allow more spells to be cast. If Mages go over their limit, they often end up in comas or other bad things of the sort.

"Distance is also a problem for a Mage. The farther you get from you're home-world, the longer time your spells will need to ready themselves, and the weaker they will be. You shouldn't worry Donald though. The Magical Kingdom (magic's even in its name!) oversees this entire sector. From Traverse Town to Neverland, and probably several others. As long as you stay within those bounds, like you did two years ago, your magic will come just as easily as if you were home." Donald looked visibly relieved, he had been getting more and more tense since the Mage topic had been entered in.

"However. If a Mage's home-world is destroyed, and its Heart taken by the Heartless, then he will no longer have access to his or her Magic. The effect is immediate, no matter where you are. Likewise, any Magical Object produced on said world will lose its power.

"And here children is where we will take our break. Looks like the Master of the house has returned." Genie said, vanishing the ruler, desks, wig and glasses with a snap. The note-paper and pen however rolled themselves together and put themselves in Sora, Donald and Goofy's pockets.

"Genie!" Came Aladdin's voice. "Have you found her yet!" Aladdin came bursting onto the scene, breathing heavily.

"Sorry Al, I've been tending to our guests." Genie said, gesturing to Sora and the others.

"Aladdin! What's wrong?" Donald asked.

Aladdin gave up and leaned against the wall. "It's Jasmine. She's missing."

* * *

Sorry this chapter was so long. But eventually, all these explanations will come back to have a purpose later. Trust me.

Review.


	46. Kill me later, read this now

Alright. It's time you guys know the truth. As many of you may have noticed by now, my updates have gotten _considerably_ slower. This is due to the fact that I got accidently locked out of my personal computer. (Forgot the password. Our bad.)

Previously, I didn't think something like this would be a problem. It is. I now have to share the family computer with, well, the family. And my brother is on all the time so its getting kind of pressed. I can't just sit and write for hours anymore. This means I have to work on each story bit by bit. I am so terribly sorry.

From now on, I can only work on one story at a time. The rotation is as follows;

Kingdom Hearts shall be updated next. I haven't updated in forever...and it was my original story out of the latest three. Gotta show some love. A new update will be coming soon.

Following KH, is Hellsing. And following Hellsing will be my newest Devil May Cry story.

Hopefully, I'll still be able to churn the updates out at a reasonable pace. I'll see you all soon.

(And P.S. While you can obviously "review" to this and totally chew me out, which I deserve whole-heartedly. You don't really have to bother. I already know what you are going to say. I mean really? Who the HELL gets locked out of their own computer...)


	47. The Magical Kingdom

Alrighty then. Still sorry. Sorry, Sorry. But a new chapter is up! So...enjoy.

* * *

Donald and Goofy stared at Aladdin, there was no change in the Genie's emotion, he probably had already known. Sora yawned. Luckily, no one took notice of this.

"Whaddaya mean missing?" Donald exclaimed.

"Just that. She's missing. She's been gone since yesterday, but I didn't think of anything then." Aladdin said, sliding down the wall. "I've got no idea where she could be!" Aladdin said, cupping his face in his hands.

Sora stood up, fighting of the dizziness that threatened to send him back to the floor. "Don't worry about it Aladdin." Sora said. Aladdin looked up at him.

"How can you say don't worry! She's out there somewhere and I can't help her!" Aladdin yelled. Sora rolled his eyes.

"Dude, face it. You are whipped.You can't do anything anyway! You are so busy worrying about every little thing that could happen to your girl-friend-"

"Fiancé" Genie interjected.

"Whatever" Sora said, waving this information away. "You are always so ready to rush off to her defense you don't think. And then you wonder why you are always in trouble. Moron." Everyone stared at the boy dressed in black. Rolling his eyes again Sora continued.

"Besides, I am sure she is fine. She probably just left on important Princess business. They like to do that kind of thing. Makes them think they're mysterious or something. And if she hasn't done that, then she's been kidnapped." He said shrugging.

"KIDNAPPED!" Aladdin roared. Sora then realized, talking about kidnapping wasn't the best way to cheer somebody up.

"Yeah, kidnapped. In which case, she should still be fine. The bad guys we're fighting are remarkably like the last ones. They won't hurt her. Either way, I wouldn't search around here anymore. You know this world better than any of us, and if you haven't found her in two days, then she probably isn't here. We'll look for her in the stars. If we find anything, we'll tell you." Sora said, moving toward the door.

"Wait! I'm coming."

"No you aren't. Trust us, we do this stuff al the time. We'll be back."

"At least take Genie again. Please?" Aladdin asked with concern in his eyes. Sora looked at Genie, who was carrying two bulky suitcases in his hands. "Fine. Let's go guys." Sora said, walking proudly outside before tripping and falling flat on his face.

* * *

The group was back in space. Genie had put the ship right-side up when they got there, and Sora had made the trip without problems, save the fact that his head was pounding now. But of, course this was not the first time they had ever crash landed on a planet, and Sora began his self-made medicine. He was snoring loudly by the time they broke out of orbit. There was nothing a good nap couldn't fix.

Donald continued their course for the Magical Kingdom, activating the boosters to help make up for the lost time. Again, there were no problems on the route, which was beginning to un-nerve Donald. Two years ago, they couldn't move anywhere without being assaulted by Heartless ships. It seems like the Organization did not care so much about monitoring space. But they more then made up for it by giving them trouble on the ground. Which brought him back to question one: What was going on at the castle?

Goofy by now had followed Sora's lead and was out cold. _'Isn't he worried at all!' _Donald wondered to himself. _'Then again, he hasn't really got much to lose if anything goes down...'_ An image of his own wife came into view. _'Daisy...'_ Donald suddenly felt an immense protective feeling for her. _'I guess I can't blame Aladdin after all.'_

* * *

By the time Sora awoke (feeling much better) they were approaching the Kingdom. Donald was already in the process of guiding the Gummi Ship into the atmosphere. The whole vessel was vibrating, but Goofy slept through.

When they broke through the clouds, Sora got his first view of his friends' home-world. The picture dazzled him. The entire place was a rush of color. The castle was the first thing to be noticed, so sparkling white, Sora had to raise his hand over his eyes in defense. The roads were cobble-stone like old fashioned towns. The rest of the grounds was covered in lush green grass and plant-life. Sora now knew why Goofy slept so much. He had grown up in this perfect place...the Keyblade Master was already imagining what it would be like to nap on the grass gazing at the fluffy clouds that drifted by.

The only thing that seemed out of place where the guards. Large, mean looking brutes all covered in heavy war-time armor lined the walls and gates. Donald landed right outside of the palace and the group disembarked (after arousing Goofy). Immediately, the guards surrounded them. "Who goes there!" They shouted as one.

"Watch who you're shouting at!" Donald instantly returned. "You should know better than to shout at your court magician!"

"Halt! Put down your weapons!" The guards lowered their weapons as a few more people shoved their way to the front of the crowd. They too were wearing armor, but it was brighter, and they seemed much less disposed to violence then the bigger guards. "Oh! Master Donald! And Sir Goofy as well! Much welcome back. The Queen has been expecting you." The speaker, (a blonde happy fellow) then took notice of Sora. "And you! You must be the great Keyblade Master we've all heard so much about! I am honored to meet you, sir!" The speaker and the brighter guards bowed. While Sora felt a powerful smirk coming on.

Donald pushed past them. "Don't bow for _him, _Smith. It will only make his head bigger." Donald said, making the man stand up. "Now, aren't you supposed to be leading us to the Queen?"

Without further ado, Smith led them away accompanied by the bright guards. The big dark ones returned to their posts. Once out of earshot, Smith dropped back to walk with Goofy.

"Who were those guys?" Sora heard Goofy ask. Smith made an audible sigh.

"New guys brought in. After you left on your journey Dough-man was promoted until your return. He's already made more changes than I can count. Ask the Queen about it, she'll tell you everything else. But let me just tell you now, we can't wait for you to come back full-time."

Then it clicked. Goofy had been the head of the Royal Guard. The bright happy guys had been trained under him, probably why they seemed so lax about everything. This "Dough-man" seemed just the opposite of Goofy. Sora didn't like him already.

Out front of the main doors, Sora caught a flash of blue and grinned. Running up to the girl in the blue dress, he grinned and bowed, Donald and Goofy soon followed his lead. "Princess Jasmine. Greetings, its nice to see you are well." Sora said, coming back to his full height.

Jasmine turned around, spotted them and smiled. "Hello Sora. What brings you here?"

Sora shrugged. "I dunno, the Queen wanted us. But I was just about to ask you the same question. Aladdin's having a fit back on Agrabah."

Jasmine giggled. "Well as you can see I'm fine here. You stopped at Agrabah to see him?"

"You could say we dropped by." Sora said, rubbing the back of his head. Jasmine laughed again.

"Well, when you see him again, you can tell him I'm okay. Sorry I couldn't tell him I was leaving, I was summoned on short notice."

"Are the other Princesses here too?" Sora asked her, looking around, perhaps for a glimse of red hair.

"They will be soon." Jasmine said. "We aren't exactly sure what it is yet, but something is going on. But never mind me. It would be easier for you to just finish your meeting with the Queen. You'll learn more that way. So hurry on, I won't disappear on you."

"I'll hold you to that!" Sora said as he was pulled away by Donald. The front doors were opened. They were going in.

* * *

Review. 


	48. The Discovered Key

Alrighty. Back after eternity. I need to make a few notes...most of which you could simply scroll past to get to the chapter if you wanted. Uh...number one. For those of you who haven't figured this out, or came late or whatever. This story was actually supposed to be more of a written version of Kingdom Hearts 2 as I thought it would turn out. Now, this story was started before there was as much info on the game as there is now, and while I intend to keep this as close to the actual game as possible, this is still a fanfiction. My fanifiction, so there will be some changes that may not be true in the game. If you can't take it then too bad.

Actually, that was all I had to say after all, so, enjoy the new chapter.

* * *

Sora's heartbeat sped up for no particular reason as he entered the gleaming castle. Smith led them into the throne room while a hidden trumpeter sounded off announcing them. As they reached the middle of the room Sora barely noticed Donald and Goofy stop. Smith had already gone. Sora looked at his companions to see them kneeling and Sora quickly did the same.

"High magician Donald, Captain Goofy, welcome back. You have both done your duties well and when it is all over you will be rewarded for it." Said the Queen who stepped down to greet the three. "And you must be the Keyblade Master we've all put our hopes on. Welcome Sora." Queen Minnie said turning toward him. "And there is no need to worry so much about formality Keyblade Master, here, you are on the same level as my husband."

At first Sora did not understand what she had meant. Then he realized, '_I'm as good as a King here!' _Thought Sora, meanwhile Donald shifted uncomfortably behind him.

"Now that you are all here, we have much to discuss. After we go over why you were summoned here today, you can all enjoy what the Magical Kingdom has to offer before your next departure." A door opened off to the side of the throne room and Queen Minnie moved toward it. "Come."

* * *

BHK stalked angrily through the streets of the 3rd District. He didn't exactly know what was aggravating him so much...perhaps having a castle fall on him would do the trick. Or maybe having to chase people around the galaxy day in day out. Or maybe, just maybe, it was because he just saw one of his best friends die before his very eyes. Maybe.

BHK wondered when he had become such a depressing person. _'I didn't used to be like this.' _He thought to himself. '_I used to have fun all of the time.'_ Rushed images of Twilight Town flashed in before his mind's eye. BHK shook his head as if to wave them away. _'My friends, my life, its gone now. All because of that Organization. What matters now is finding Sora...and reaching the Door.'_

BHK sensed somthing shift around him and he unsheathed his Keyblades. "What better way to clear my head?" BHK muttered to himself. "That's what I came here for anyway." BHK turned to face his enemies. It was the white creatures again. And the man with red hair.

"Now that you've shown, you've already accepted how this is going to turn out." BHK told him, pointing the white Keyblade. Namine's Key.

Axel raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Oh? Well in case I've gotten my information mixed up, why don't you enlighten me as to what is about to happen here."

"Simple really." BHK said, his gaze unwavering, "I completely and utterly destroy you, then I cast your remains into Oblivion."

"Well, well," Axel said chuckling. "It seems as if you have it all planned out. Let's see how it works out." Axel snapped his fingers, and the creatures attacked. BHK snarled, his stance defiant, his blades ready.

* * *

"He's been gone for quite some time now." Kairi said, glancing at the watch BHK had given her. "I wonder where he is."

"I hope he hasn't gotten into any trouble." Yuna said, looking worried. Kairi laughed. "Knowing him, of course he has. I'm just worried about how much."

Yuna pouted. "Kairi! You shouldn't joke like that!" Kairi apologized, not revealing the fact that she hadn't been joking at all.

"Maybe we should check on him." Leon said, looking concerned despite his cold persona. "Its not just Heartless out there anymore. There are these new white beings that could be even worse. Just a few of them was almost enough to overwhelm even me." Leon stood up straight from the wall he was leaning on and grabbed his Gunblade. "I don't know enough about your friend Kairi, but I think I should go out an look for him."

Yuna shook her head. "Don't. He probably wants to be alone right now. Besides, he can handle those white creatures on his own. We've already faced them before. They aren't so tough...as long as you're careful." Yuna said, somewhat trying to relieve her own worry for BHK.

"So you've seen 'em then." Cid said grimly. "Any idea what the hell they are?" Yuffie and Leon barely shifted their stance, but Kairi could tell they were waiting to see if she had any information worthwhile.

"They're called Nobodies. I guess you could say they are a kind of Heartless...but actually, it is more that they are the result of the Heartless. Compared to the Heartless in actual combat, their bodies seem a little more resistant to physical damage, but they don't use magic nearly as well. Other than that, all we really know about them is that they are under the control of the Organization." Kairi explained.

"When you say that they are the result of the Heartless..." Cid began, "What do you mean?" Yuffie finished.

"A Heartless is created after someone loses their own heart to darkness. What you guys don't know is that the person's leftover body is taken and transformed too. Those are the Nobodies."

Yuffie's eyes widened as she grasped that concept. "So you mean to tell us, that for every single Heartless out there, there is a Nobody to match it?"

"Hmm...I never thought of it like that, I'm not all that good at making connections sometimes...but yeah. That seems about right." Yuna said thinking.

Yuffie's eyes buldged. "But the Heartless are limitless! They've been around since the beginning!"

"Then that just means that the Nobodies are limitless too..." Leon said, thinking aloud. "So we're stuck fighting two limitless forces with few supplies and fewer reinforcements. Sounds like a party." Kairi couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not, but it was still a rather depressing thought.

"Hey! Cheer up!" Yuna demanded after seeing faces fall around the room. "Its not like it's the end of the world here! You guys beat them last time right? And you guys can do it again." Yuna noticed that some of the others looked a little happier, even though they rolled their eyes at the obvious beginnings of a pep-talk. "And that's not just it!" Yuna continued, determined not to go with the cheer-up girl routine. "Its not like you'll have the entire force of either come at you. All at once or otherwise. There has to be a limit as to how many Heartless or Nobody someone can command at a time. Especially when it comes to the Organization."

Seeing that no one else was going to, Cid asked again, "What do you mean?"

"Well, I was captured and held a lot longer then Kairi was. I picked up on a few things during my time there."

"Like?"

"For one, it seemed as if the Organization was originally made up of 13 members, and each member looked as if he controlled his own specific type of Nobody. I had never really seen them commanding the Nobodies, but they talked about them a lot. I think it was because a little while ago they lost some members and they were now having trouble controlling the types left without a master."

At this, the people in the small house perked up. "Now that...that _is_ interesting." Yuffie said tapping her chin. Kairi looked at Yuna with surprise. "You never told me that!" she told the girl.

Yuna shrugged. "I didn't think it mattered that much, I was basically more preoccupied with running for our lives." She said with a smile. "Now that we know more about them, the info looked sort of useful."

"What else do you know? Have you seen their leader? How many members are left?" Leon demanded.

Yuna took up a thoughtful expression again. "Well, the Orgnization bolstered their ranks after the loses, so there are a lot of members now, but I don't think they can all control their own Nobodies. Only the remaining originals can do that."

"How many originals are left?"

Yuna looked down towards her feet. "Sorry, I don't know too much more. I think they lost about 5 out of 13. I don't know anything about their leader."

"So the Organization isn't as powerful as we thought. But that still means we've got 8 left to deal with, without counting their Nobodies and the lower members.""I've seen their leader." Kairi said, speaking up and startling Yuffie who had forgotten the red-head was in the room. "He's scary, and strong. He was different from the others, he was dressed in all red, and his face was bandaged. I could only see an eye and his mouth when I looked right at him."

"No." Leon said firmly. Cid looked rather confused as well. "That's not possible. We know the person you described, and he wouldn't ever work with, not to mention lead, that Organization."

"You know him?" Kairi and Yuna asked together.

"Yeah, his name's" Leon stopped short and suddenly held his Gunblade at the ready. It was right before the windows exploded and the Nobodies flooded in.

* * *

BHK easily smashed several more of the Nobodies, but he realized that they weren't putting up much of a fight. "What's wrong with you!" BHK yelled to Axel. "Fight me you murderer!"

A brief emotion passed over Axel's face. It resembled regret. "You simply assume I came here to attack you. This was not my purpose in coming here."

"I don't give a damn!" BHK leapt at Axel, only to be blocked by a strange looking Nobody. It was tall and colored white like the others BHK had seen. It hunched over somewhat and had blades lined down its arms and feet. BHK was attacked from behind as he studied this new arrival and was forced to his knees, winded, but otherwise unhurt. "What is this?" He asked.

"They are known as the Assassins. My own special breed. Perfect for making sure what I want gets done." Axel said rather threateningly.

"And what _do_ you want?" BHK asked him from the ground. Whatever had hit him had taken away his strength, but it was starting to return now. He would surprise Axel with a sudden attack as soon as he was ready.

"Oh! So now you are willing to listen. Now that you've been struck down and only remain because of my mercy." Axel laughed out loud, his voice filling the streets. "I came to this pathetic little world to find you!" Axel jabbed a finger at BHK. "I feel the need to tell you that your fighting us is worthless. You could be doing so much more if you joined us instead!"

"And what makes you think I would do something like that?" BHK asked the cloaked man.

"Because, you were with us before." Axel said quietly. BHK could barely hear him, but he spoke up again with his next words. "You are a Nobody! You belong with the Organization 13. We aren't complete without you, our final member."

"I'll never!" BHK shouted. With a flash of his Keyblade he sprang at Axel, who strangely grinned. Instead of being taken by surprise, Axel side-stepped and sent his elbow to crash into BHK's jaw and send him flying.

BHK hit and skid for a time across the ground. His cheek throbbed, but he forced himself to his feet and attacked again, swinging his Keyblades out of rage. Axel ducked inside the assualt and upper-cutted heavily into BHK's abdomen, sending him down to his knees for the second time.

"So predictable. I know every move you're about to make. Why? Because I've seen it all before. We used to train on the wide expanses of Hollow Bastion all the time. I've seen your moves, and even now, after having your memories erased and tampered with, you remain the boy I knew. Same attitudes, same fighting style, the same thirst for the truth."

With a hidden signal from Axel, his Assassins knocked BHK flat, preventing him from making a third attempt at striking Axel down. "You want the truth kid? She lied to you. Everything you know. Namine was a witch who changed people's memories. You were planted in Twilight Town, simply to escape and search for the Keyblade Master with your scrambled memories of Sora's life given to you by Namine. It was their design! They who control all the strings. The leader, and Namine, and Him. They all seek to control you, to control us, to control _everything_. The events that led up to now have all been orchestrated by their hands.

"The truth? You were Number thirteen of our order, our youngest member, the Discovered Key. You belong with us, and I won't let you get close to the Keyblade Master. I won't have you throwing your life away."

"Where is he!" BHK struggled to say from his position, secured by the Nobodies. Axel shook his head. "You can't see Sora. You are coming with me." Axel reached for BHK.

BHK manuvered one of his arms free and called his Keyblade to it. "Aero!" A gust of wind blew Axel and the rest of the Nobodies back. BHK picked up Oblivion and ran.

Axel called after him. "She lied to you, fool! You know nothing!" BHK out on more speed, knowing that the Nobodies were on his trail.

* * *

Review. Next chapter...not sure, I haven't thought that far yet, but It'll be coming soon! 


	49. The Courtyard

1Well kiddies what can I say? Less than one month until Kingdom hearts 2 is released this side of the world. Less than a month to find out how much of this story tuns out to be right or wrong. Less than one month to unlock the secrets of the universe...And then, on the other hand, its not _quite_ that serious. Serious, but not that much. But definately serious. Yeah.

Anyway, I'm at my own type of crossroads right now. I definately want to complete this story, but...ok. Here's my problem, this story is almost definately not going to be finished by the time Kingdom Hearts 2 is released. Some of you might already have it, I don't. The majority of my country doesn't have it yet. (Duh...it isn't for sale yet...But I bet I could find it on Ebay. If I was desperate.)

My problem is that as the story is right now, it could take several more months to finish with all the little surprises I had had in store for you all. But, since it isn't written out, (yet) I could easily change around the outline in my head to make it substantially shorter. And frankly, I'm starting to wear down a little. I have three fics running right now. (Which was a mistake...Dumbass...Listen! Any newbies! Never have more than like 2 up at one time!) Junior year is not nearly as promising as it sounded at first and when I get actual game itself, it is only going to distract me further.

So you see my problem. The stuff that would keep the story long are mostly comprised of little filler chapters and little surprises and guest appearences that would probably make some of you smile to see, but may or may not be essential to the resolution of the story. At any rate, I'm going to let you guys have the rest of the chapter to think things over, and then tell me what you think.

-SS137

* * *

Chapter...49

The door opened into a large hallway that was lined with rows of suits of armour. The Queen was leading and Donald was right at her heels looking a little upset. Sora and Goofy brought up the rear. "Before you tell us anything else Queen Minnie, you should tell us why our home is all the way over here!"

The Queen sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "It was the Captain's idea." Goofy perked up. "It was?" He asked.

"Not you, Goofy." Donald and the Queen said in unison. Then, on her own, "I wasn't too fond of the idea either at first...after all, why change things that have worked for centuries? But then the Heartless started appearing."

"Heartless here! Impossible!" Donald quacked angrily. "It has to be some sort of trick! This world's heart is one of the strongest! And my spells are top-notch! I refuse to believe otherwise!"

"Yeah! Hyuck. There were no problems around when we still lived here." Goofy said (having recognized the word 'Heartless') "How much could'a happened since we left?"

"Now Donald, Goofy. I know very well that neither of you like the Captain very well..." The Queen said.

"**Temporary** Captain!" Said, not Donald who Sora would have expected, but Goofy. This surprised the Keyblade Master. He had rarely seen Goofy so aggrivated. _'He must care more about his job than he lets on...'_ Sora realized. '_I wonder if he just plays dumb for the fun of it...Ah! Maybe he's a genius in disguise!'_

"Temporary Captain." Agreed the Queen, "But Captain none-the-less. He was third in your class Goofy. And his father was a musketeer. I trust his judgement in the end." Goofy frowned, which was a strange look for him.

However Sora barely noticed, he was too busy continuing the argument with himself. _'C'mon Sora! You have no evidence that he's a genius at all! You've known him for what? Three years or so now? Since when has he done anything smart _ever! _Sure, he might say wise things or quotable lines every now and then, but I bet you it's a fluke.'_

_'No, YOU c'mon. We've been taking Goofy at face value all this time! But whenever we've been in a pinch he's always helped us through. And I'm sure the Queen wouldn't send somebody with a blank slate for a brain.'_

_'How can you just jump to conclusions? All that we know is that he cares about his job. That doesn't make anybody a genius. In fact, it might prove even more that he is an idiot. C'mon! You couldn't pay me enough to be hunted day and night by the forces of darkness _and_ fighting heartless and those grey things now? Please.'_

_'No, you know who the real idiot is?'_

'_Who?'_

_'Us. 'Cause we're doing it for FREE!'_

"Sora? Is there something on your mind?" Came the Queen's voice. Sora looked up and came back from the foggy area he just was. He noticed that everyone was staring at him. "Yeah. Uhm...yeah. I'm good..." Sora mumbled.

"Good. Because we are about to enter the courtyard where the captain awaits. We will take about your upcoming job there."

* * *

The courtyard was a nice squared-off piece of the outside in the center of the castle. There was a lone tree in the center. A gigantic tree. Its branches seemed to scrape the sky and hold the sun in the palm of its...leaves...

All Sora knew is that he had an immediate urge to climb it. However the Queen was gesturing toward a small table with a checkered quilt over it, like they were going for a picnic. With a disappointed huff, Sora, Donald and Goofy took up one side of the table. The Queen sat at the head, and a large figure squeezed himself into a groaning chair at the foot.

Sora assumed that this figure was the _temporary_ Captain. And just as he had expected, Sora didn't like him right off. He was fat, and ugly. Rolls of skin were squeezed into the red armor he wore. He also gave off a powerful smell, but Sora couldn't quite place it. However, the bit that really made Sora wary were the man's eyes. Spiteful, mean-spirited eyes like a bully who had just cornered his prey. Sora's right hand twitched, and he got the impression that the Keyblade didn't take to the man either.

The look of the man's eyes faded as he sat before the Queen, though he wasn't quite able to hide it completely. Neither were Donald and Goofy. Goofy's was a face of annoyance, though Donald's was just short of loathing.

The man gave them a passing galnce (matching them expression for expression) until his eyes finally settled on Sora. Sora could have sworn something twitched in his face, but it was too quick to tell. The man looked back at his Queen and bowed in the chair. "Your Majesty." He said in a gravely, and slightly sarcastic voice.

"Sora, this is our temporary Captain of the Royal Guard Pete Bigfellow. Captain Pete, you sit with Keyblade Master Sora." Announced the Queen.

Pete bowed again, this time to Sora and barely muttered, "Master Sora, pleased to meet you."

"And I'm positive you already know high-magician Donald and the Captain that you are filling in for." The Queen continued.

Looks of flying invisible daggers shot back and forth between the three. "Now gentle men, it is time to get back down to business." The Queen was handed a scroll by a just-appearing John Smith, who promptly sat down across form Sora and waved with a smile.

The Queen rolled the scroll out over the table and everybody inched forward to see it. It seemed to be an enchanted map of some-kind, but Sora couldn't decipher it. There were a lot of shining dots on it, and a lot of bordering darkness. Some of the glowing specs gave off a familiar resonance with Sora. Or, more specifically, the Keyblade that was always near him found them familiar.

"As you all probably know, this is the map for the galaxy in which we reside." Realization hit Sora, though he tried not to reveal the fact the he hadn't known. Even so, he felt his face begin to grow warmer.

The glowing specs were all stars and worlds. Sora, following through on a feeling he was recieving from the Keyblade passed his hand over the map and paused when his hand tingled over a star. He extended a finger and touched it, immediately allowing the star to flare and produce a hovering holographic image of Traverse Town. Sora was getting the feeling of deja-vu from certain stars because they were worlds he had visited. Worlds he had locked with the Keyblade.

"Figured out how to work it already Sora?" the Queen asked with amusement. She banished the mini Traverse Town. "Actually, Sora. We have called you here to ask for your help." Said, the Queen serious again. "Before we did anything I wanted to summon forth the Princesses of Heart. However, we are having some difficulty gathering a few of them. Belle specifically has become a problem."

"Belle?" Sora asked, however his thoughts were really on Kairi who he knew had still not shown up.

"Yes. Princess Belle has received our summons, yet has been unable to leave her residence. She instead sent na message to us, saying that she was worried about the being known as the Beast, and she requested help." Queen Minnie said, a look of concern on her face. "Right now, we just don't have people to spare for an investigation."

"So you want me to go and help her? That's why I'm here right?" Sora asked, looking at Minnie.

"At this point, we need the Princesses here to move onward. It would be wonderful if you could help, though I must warn you. The route will be dangerous. Now that the Heartless have become active once again, the world barriers have weakened considerably, and many people have found access to the stars since the attack a few years ago. So, in all likely hood, you will meet more than just Heartless on your journey."

Sora thumped his chest. "I'm not worried. I have yet to find somebody who can match the power of my Keyblade!" He said proudly.

Donald coughed. "Except Riku, Ansem, oh and Sephiroth of course..." Donald said counting on his fingers.

"Right, well except them." Sora said, glaring at Donald. The Queen and Smith laughed. Pete said nothing. "Anyway." Sora said, recovering and mentally keeping back the flush in his cheeks, "What about the rest? What else do you have planned?"

"At this point," Pete said suddenly jumping in, "We are still trying to work out the kinks in it all. By the time you return with Belle, everything should be in order."

Sora was at first going to protest at this obvious blow-off, but the Queen seemed quite content to let it stand, so Sora quickly put on a smile and said. "Sure. So, where are we headed?"

Pete reached over and prodded a star. The star flashed and showed the image of a pleasant, peaceful world not unlike the Magical Kingdom. "This is the Beast's castle, grounds, and neighboring villages. The castle is where the Beast and Belle reside. This star chart already has the route planned out. All that's left is for you to decide when you want to leave."

"We'll go straight away." Sora said immediately, startling Donald and Goofy. "Belle and the Beast are my friends. I want to know what's happening over there. Don't worry we'll handle it." Sora pushed away from the table.

"Surely you'll want to rest? Or perhaps enjoy the grounds first?" The Queen asked.

Sora firmly shook his head. "I'm not tired, and besides, we can sleep in the Gummi ship. It's a great way to pass the time on a long trip."

Donald pulled Sora down by the shirt and fiercely whispered in his ear. "You know! This is my home-world! You could have asked Goofy and I before signing us up for immediate departure! Maybe some of us had plans!"

Sora shrugged and whispered back. "Sorry Donald, but I'm getting a weird feeling right now, like we should get this over with as quickly as possible. Just trust me for once okay? Please?"

Donald released him and crossed his arms, huffing. The Queen, who had seen everything spoke up. "Are you positive?" The Queen asked. A nod from Sora. "Perhaps it is for the best. And I forgot to mention something Donald. Daisy volunteered to be our messenger. She personally went herself to summon Belle."

Instantly, Donald politely said the group's goodbye and was the first one to turn around and leave the castle. This time, Donald led them at a brisk pace through the hallways and they were soon back at their Gummi Ship, preparing for departure.

"Donald, do you feel like they were hiding something from us?"Sora asked when he had strapped himself to his seat. Donald said nothing in response as he was too busy plugging the star-chart's route and coordinates.

Goofy answered him instead. "Naw. Don't worry about that Sora. The King and Queen have always been a little mysterious when it comes to planning. But still, I don't like any plan that Pete helped cook up. Hyuck."

Sora was about to ask 'Why do you guys hate him so much?' But he felt the ship's engine vibrate with energy and saved his question for when they were safely outside of the planet's gravity.

* * *

I think this is going to be a month of super-charged updates. I',m leaving for the week-end but when I get back we're going to be rolling. See you guys soon.

Review.


	50. Summoned Beast

Yuna and Kairi were immediately shoved to the back of the room as Leon, Yuffie, and Cid stepped up to defend. Leon was easily the strongest of the three, but even he was being overwhelmed by the Nobodies. Cid and Yuffie seemed to be on the defensive, protecting Kairi and Yuna.

Kairi had had no idea Cid could fight, but the proof was before her. Wielding a long, worn spear he had somehow produced, he quickly darted in and out of the fight. He thrusted and spun his spear, hitting his targets with amazing accuracy. He seemed to be on par with Leon in terms of sheer strength.

Meanwhile, Yuffie was pulling her own weight in the battle. While she was not as physically strong as Leon or Cid, she surpassed them in terms of speed. Her movements were a blur, and thus, Kairi assumed it was her eyes playing tricks on her when she saw that Yuffie seemed to be using a folded piece of paper. Kairi soon decided it didn't matter what Yuffie was using, it worked; the ninja had just finished slicing through several Nobodies and was now again on the defensive.

Sitll, they were losing. The Nobodies seemed endless, streaming through the doorway and the broken windows. And from the looks of the cracks, they seemed to be trying to bring the wall down too.

Leon launched a large fireball into the swarm of white creatures, successfully scattering a number of them. Leon's face was grim and is clothes were torn and dirty. Kairi thought she had seen him fall at some point. Cid had a red gash across his chest, and though he tried to hide it, it was clear that the wound was causing him some serious pain. In contrast, Yuffie seemed mostly unharmed, however, she was panting heavily and her clothes were soaked with pesperation. It was obvious that they needed help, and obvious that they needed to escape.

"Leon! We have to get out of here! We're being overrun!" Kairi shouted. Leon didn't turn to look at her, but she knew he had heard her.

"I know! I've been trying to find an opening this entire time, but its useless. We're boxed in!" Leon shouted back after a time. His facial expression grew darker. "We'll just have to stick it out for as long as we can. You and Yuna need to stay back, you'll just be in the way!"

The Nobodies had collected themselves and seemed ready to renew their assault. Leon, Cid and Yuffie prepared themselves. Kairi's heart sank, they were all visibly tired; considerably weaker than only a few minutes before.

Kairi turned to Yuna to check on the girl, but when she turned she saw Yuna muttering to herself and rocking back and forth. Kairi was immediately filled with concern and fear for the girl. "Yuna?"

The other girl was crouched over like some animal, but what Kairi noticed most was the insanely wild look in her eyes. Yuna suddenly erupted into a ear-splitting scream as the ground shook beneath their feet. Kairi would only realize later that the scream had been a battle-cry.

* * *

BHK was only a few feet from the besieged small house before it exploded. BHK was picked off of his feet and hurled into the side of an adjacent building and the world went black.

* * *

When BHK came to, before he had even opened his eyes, he noticed the heat. Not exactly searing, but far too warm for comfort. It was as if someone had directed all of the sun's energy directly on him.

The second thing he noticed was the smell. _'Smoke',_ his scrambled mind realized. It was an acrid smell, the smell of burnt rubber, and burnt bodies. Between the smoke and the heat, BHK felt a tremndous amount of pressure pressing in on him. He gasped and coughed heavily, feeling his body answering him with a crash of pain.

BHK groaned and opened his eyes. His vision was blurry and he slowly blinked his eyes in an attempt to clear it. It wasn't the heat that created the pressure; debris had fallen on top of him while he was out. BHK gritted his teeth and stood up, feeling the dust, wood and stones slid off of him.

He looked to the small house, but at his new altitude, the smoke had thickened and it was hard to see. Even so, BHK thought he saw a hulking fiery figure crouched over a group of indistinct bodies before BHK inhaled too much and was hit was a fit of coughing.

When his vision cleared again, whatever he thought he had seen was gone, and the smoke was starting to dissipate. BHK covered his mouth and nose with a sleeved arm and cautiously approached the remains of the house. Inside the wreckage, BHK found at least a dozen crushed Nobodies that were slower in disappearing than the rest of their brethren.

BHK spotted Leon first and Yuffie first; they were buried under blackened wood and ash. Leon was already starting to stir, and Yuffie was breathing in a slow steady rhythm. They would be fine. BHK moved on.

There was a crumbling sound and BHK turned around and squinted through his stinging eyes. Cid had emerged; staggering to his feet. A cut on his chest and a few other cuts on his arms were bleeding, but he seemed ok. BHK went over to him.

"Cid!" BHK sputtered. "What happened here?" Cid turned to look at BHK at the sound of his voice. Recognizing that BHK was an ally, he lowered his broken spear and held his head in one hand.

"A summoned beast that's what the hell Happened!"Cid muttered as quietly-loud as possible. BHK assumed the old man had a massive headache.

"Summoned beast?" BHK asked. His muddled brain wasn't catching up to the conversation easily. At this point, BHK didn't not realize that he knew what a summoned beast was.

"Yeah. I've met a few of 'em in my day. Even called a few of them once or twice. With help though. It takes a lot of magic to call a beast. And if you 'aint a summoner you'll probably need some magical items too. Like materia."

"Materia?" BHK inquired. "What's that? And where's Kairi and Yuna?" BHKlooked around, but didn't see anything.

"Don't worry about materia. Ages old, that stuff and mostly long gone. That's what stumps me. There had to be a summoner around somewhere." Cid said, trailing off.

Recognition hit BHK slowly. "Yuna..." He breathed, or tried too. He coughed a few more times as smoke found its way to his lungs.

"They were somewhere over there last time I remember." Cid waved his hand vaguely and stumbled across the floor, leading the way. BHK followed and together they found Kairi and Yuna laying across the floor. They were untouched.

"They're safe. At least something's gone right today." BHK said. Cid grunted as he looked around the demolished room.

"Define 'right'."

* * *

Now, I know this is a shorter chapter than most, but I'll make up for it with the next one. By the way! 50th chapter! I'm excited anyway! Woot! And an event I forgot to bring attention to before. OVER 100 reviews! You guys rock seriously. Seriously. See you soon and keep 'em coming! 


	51. Space and Cannonballs

Ha HA! Another chapter!

* * *

It had been several hours since they'd left the Magical Kingdom, and so far their trip had been silent. Donald was focused entirely on making sure that the Gumi Ship did not stray from its charted path. Goofy himself was, as usual, unconscious in his chair. This left Sora, the Keyblade Master, brimming with both teenage hormonal and magical energies, extremely bored.

He desperately wanted to smash something, but common sense told him that smashing up a space ship in-flight was not a great idea. He also wanted to practice his Drive form, but Goofy was still sleeping and Donald was simply not to be bothered.

So Sora let his mind wander and the paranoid centers of his brain immediately responded. _'We're going at top-speed, and its been hours since we've left the castle. So how come we haven't seen any change of scenery? No lighter or darker hues in space, no asteroids or Gummi formations. Nothing. Doesn't that strike you as a little odd?'_ One part of him said, and Sora had to admit, it had a point.

The voice seized its oppurtunity and dove in. _'All I'm saying, is that you'd better take a closer look at that star-chart. Maybe Pete has sent you on a wild goose-chase.'_ Sora shook his own head to clear his mind.

'_I'm not going to bother checking that chart.' _The assertive Sora said. _'Donald's been doing nothing but driving the ship and staring at the chart. He would've noticed something wrong by now.'_

Paranoia, by nature, disagreed. _'Donald is too worried about his girl-friend to think straight. You saw the look in Pete's eyes! He's got to be plotting something. He's playing you for a sucker. All of you.'_

Sora sighed. '_I'm getting bored with this conversation. I've made up my mind. The King trusts Pete, enough to be the Captain of the Royal Guard while Goofy's away. If the King trusts him. Then I trust him.'_

_'You barely even know the King! Everthing you've ever heard about him is off-hand remarks from Donald and Goofy over the past 2 years. And what? A King can't be wrong? He's still human...-ish...'_

Sora didn't reply to himself, but instead forced his thoughts away from the what-ifs. He tried instead to focus on something, anything else. But at the end of another hour with no change, Sora unbuckled himself from his seat and moved to peer over Donald's shoulder at the star-chart.

However, as soon as Sora stood up there was a change. Outer space slowly began to shift from pitch-black to a milky-yellow, and ships came into view. Instantly, Sora knew there was trouble. The mass of ships were firing amongst each other and several explosions could bee seen. Two large ships could be seen descending upon a nearby, tropical-looking planet while a third followed behind more slowly.

It occured to Sora that those three ships all looked like old-fashioned boats, the rest of the flying craft could easily be identified as Heartless vessels. Then Sora realized that the third boat, the slowest one was the main target in the attacks. The Heartless were all aiming and firing on that one ship, while the first two seemed to be trying to escape.

"Donald! We've got to help that ship out!" Sora called to the duck who was watching the battle warily. "There could be innocent people on it!"

"We don't have time Sora! And for we have no idea who's onboard that vessel! Its not like the Heartless care who they attack! All they want is the heart of somebody else. Good, evil, it doesn't matter! For all we know they could be attacking pirates! We have no idea who's on that ship and we oughta keep it that way!" Donald said with emphasis.

"Donald!" Sora said, getting angry. "We have to help them no matter what." Donald didn't reply but he did sit and watch the battle a little longer. "C'mon! I can't believe you have to think about this!"

"Donald..."A warning voice came from behind them. Goofy had woken up due to all of the commotion. "Donald, I gotta reckon Sora is right on this one."

Donald growled and frowned, but grabbed the controls and steered them toward the fight. "I know I'm going to regret this!" Sora heard him mutter, but Sora just smiled because knew that Donald's grumbling was just a force of habit to keep his 'we-should-do-what-is-important-for-the-mission-' act up. Donald was doing the right thing, and Donald knew it as well as Sora did.

The Heartless took notice of them quickly, as well as the plummeting ship. Both fired upon them. Donald swerved their ship out of harm's way, but let out a string of squawking curses all the same. "What do they think they're doing, firing at us! We're the good-guys!"

"I don't think they know that!" Sora shouted back from his place at the guns. (Specifically, the lasers.) "Until we know who they are we can't fire back! Just try to avoid them!" A large and obviously magically powered cannon-ball streaked past them. "Easy for you to say!" Donald snapped.

After they took down a few Heartless ships though, the blasts from the slow boat ceased. "See!" Sora exclaimed happily, "I told you they'd figure it out in the end!" A huge laser smashed into them right underneath the cockpit. They were sent spinning through space, and due to gravity, were now plummeting alongside the slow boat towards the tropical-looking planet.

"I've lost control!" Donald was shouting. "The circuits are fried! The joysticks are jammed! We're going to crash!"

"Oh come on! Not again!' Sora shouted back. They were hit hard by another barrage of lazers from the Heartless. The last image Sora saw before he blacked out was a vast ocean, rushing up to greet them.

* * *

Sora woke with a start. Someone was kicking him. There was loud noise everywhere. Sound pressed in upon him from all sides. Sora found himself already in an upright postition, and his hands were bound with thick rope.

Sora turned his cramped and aching neck to the side and saw a door ajar. Through the crack he could see men and one or two women dancing merrily and drinking heavily. He looked to the other side where he saw an extremely annoyed Donald staring at him. Sora would've fallen over in surprise-inspired fear if he wasn't propped up against a wall. Goofy was on his side, asleep with his head in Donald's lap. Both of his companions were also bound with rope.

After catching his breath, Sora asked the usual question after crashing, blacking out, and coming to. (After all, it was basically a ritual for them.) "Wass goin' on?" In a mumbling whisper.

"What's going on!" Donald quietly hissed under his breath, "Bloody PIRATES! That's what's going on! I TOLD you we shouldn't have helped them! But do you Ever LISTEN!" Donald had lost the control on his voice on the words that explained the irony.

Sora was aabout to reply when Sora heard the music promptly shut off and the voices outside drop to hushed tones. Sora shot Donald a quick Now-look-what-you've-done! Glare and turned to the door.

He heard footsteps. Heavy footsteps made by boots. Slow footsteps made by a person who knew what he was doing. The footsteps stopped and the door was swung fully open. A tall earring-ed man stood before them, but the light that streamed in was behind him and Sora could not get a good look at his face. The man signaled to his comrades behind him. "Grab 'em" he ordered. Quickly, sever pairs of large, muscular arms picked Sora, Donald and the dozing Goofy up and hurled them further on deck out into the open.

Sora landed with an "Oof" and recovered, rolling to look at his captors. Out of the corner of his eye Sora saw Donald do the same and Goofy woke up. The tall man stepped before them again. He wore an utterly ridiculous outfit, from his old-fashioned leather boots to the top of his feathered musketter hat. He was tanned, mustached, and goateed. He wore a a sheathed sword and a musket on his belt.

He spoke. He had a slightly slurring, but still somehow clear way of speaking. He smelled of heavy alcohol. Sora couldn't help but grin. The man was definately a pirate. And any regular teenager has wanted to be a pirate at sometime in their lives. For Sora, this was an obsession over an extended period of time since way back before Kairi even arrived on the Destiny Islands. This man was Sora's hero.

"Welcome! To our once impressive stolen vessel, the _Interceptor._" The man said, making wide, greatly exaggerated gestures the enitre time. "And we are your hosts! The Pirates of cursed (he pronounced it cur-said) ship the _Black Pearl_! And I am your humble leader of his rif-raff." He said indicating the rest of the crew who promptly cheered and held up mugs of beer.

The man grinned and twirled the end of his mustache. "You can call me, Captain! Jack Sparrow."

* * *

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